


Who Are You?

by shortstakk79



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-11
Updated: 2015-10-07
Packaged: 2018-04-03 21:59:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 103,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4116331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shortstakk79/pseuds/shortstakk79
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A new member is added to the team, and Hotch, of all people, finds himself enamored with her. It starts off in a bar where the team are hanging out after wrapping a case; takes a minute to get to the Hotch/OC bit,  but hang in there. Love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Totally ripped the title off from the Who song....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***This note is new to this chapter*** I thought I should add it and apologize if different areas of this story seem disjointed or out of place in some way. This was the first fan fiction story I ever wrote, so I was still learning my way a bit. And honestly, it has been so long since I wrote it, now as I post each chapter to this site, I am going back reading it, almost cringing, because I think of things I could have done to make it better. 
> 
> Hopefully in some of my later stories I have started getting a bit better in that respect. Thanks to the people hanging in there with me.

At about 5'4 and 115 lbs. with waist length curly dark brown hair and big brown doe eyes a woman like Alecta was sure to turn heads, especially when you top all of that off with her exaggerated hour-glass figure. Yeah, it rarely mattered who the audience consisted of, she was typically a crowd favorite; never mind the fact that it made her utterly uncomfortable.

Tonight found Alecta weaving her way through a decent crowd at one of the local hot spots in Quantico. She was alone. She had only moved out this way about two months ago and hadn't made a conscious effort to go out and actually meet people. Truth be told, she was in the midst of one of the worst divorces in the history of the free world. The last thing she needed was more baggage. But staring at the four walls of her little apartment was starting to lose its appeal.

So here she was, in all her glory, or lack thereof. Deep red camisole top under a vintage style tank top that advertised her unwavering support for 'The Who'….few things in life were as comforting to her as Roger Daltrey's primal scream….the man had a set of pipes that could kill, and when life flung a little too much BS your way, a good scream had the potential to clear things right up.

Next was her favorite pair of wide legged jeans, they were sooo faded, had holes in the knees and a few other choice places, topped off with a sparkly red belt with a chunky silver buckle. On her feet was a pair of her favorite 'combat' boots…she'd had them since she went through assassins training years ago…they were still in great shape, and she kept them cleaned up. But they were super comfortable, and you never knew when the moment would hit when you had to kick somebody's ass or take off running. Either way, she was about to be prepared. Not to mention as uncomfortable as she felt in these social situations, she needed to dress in something that helped her keep control of her nerves. This outfit did that. Hopefully she'd get out of this little experiment relatively unscathed.

Of course it didn't hurt that most of the regulars at this place new her, at least by sight. Years ago, when she was still young and dumb, she dated the guy who owned this joint (as well as a few others in other states) for a while. Though the relationship didn't last, they had remained on friendly enough terms over the years…enough so that she had VIP access at all of his businesses, and no cover charge, and if she was really good she could cop free drinks.

As she made her way through the crowd she could hear the odd "Hey girl….where have you been…". It was nice to be missed, even just a little.

Across the bar there was a group of people huddled around one of the larger tables in the place, there were seven of them. They were having a few rounds of drinks after a long week of work. There was a forty-something dark haired guy, seemed kinda stern. An older man, that she would've sworn was familiar to her, but she couldn't think of why just now. A younger guy that looked like he just quit his day job as a member of N'SYNC. A smoking hot chocolate daddy…she could already tell she was gonna wind up doing something illegal, and the chances were better than average he would be involved. There was dark haired woman with fine features…a blonde woman that Alecta could only describe as Barbie's evil twin…and a second blonde…this one Alecta would know anywhere. This woman was Penelope Garcia. Their paths had crossed more than once, it usually involved them saving each other's lives one way or the other.

Penelope and Alecta happened to make eye contact from maybe 15-20ft. apart. They gave each other the 'courtesy' nod of recognition, but didn't take the contact any further than that. Around the same time, the hot chocolate daddy happened to see his baby girl's acknowledgement of a total stranger.

"Who is she?"

The sound of Morgan's voice making Garcia jump slightly, "Who is who?"

"That girl that….' Seeing the young woman blend back into the crowd like a ghost, 'well, the one that was just there. Who is she?"


	2. Who Are You? Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morgan confronts the young woman that he and Garcia happen to see at the club. Some light conversation Mostly a filler chapter.

Who Are You? Chapt. 2

"Um. I don't really know. I think maybe she was checking you out. But I could be wrong. But I doubt it."

"Baby girl, you're being evasive."

"Is it working?" rather sheepishly.

"Ok, I'll drop it; for now."

Just great. For now, Garcia could breathe. Later, how much later was anyone's guess, she would be in a panic trying to find every way possible out of the discussion she knew Morgan was gunning for. Garcia loved Alecta like a sister. And they were sisters, of sorts. They were sisters brought together by a common experience. Grasping the medallion around her neck and rubbing it gently, Garcia had to suppress a shudder when she thought about the first time they met. How was she going to live through this conversation with Morgan…hell, with the others if they were to find out?

Alecta spent about two hours or so just jamming to the loud music with some of the people that had decided to hang out with her. It wasn't long before she was parched. Soon enough she was making her way up to the bar. As she closed in on the bar she noticed the hot guy from the group, the one that had been hovering around Penelope. She knew enough from her few conversations with Garcia over the years that the man in question must be Derek Morgan. Regardless of what she might know for sure, she was going to play this by ear. She walked the rest of the way up to the bar, flirting with the bartender, Fort, asking for her usual drink-an 'Electric Chair'.

"An Electric Chair? What kind of craziness is that?"

Garcia was right, the guy sounded as hot as he looked…good to know.

"It falls in the realm of drinks that, with enough of them, life either makes sense after like five or you don't remember enough about what happened that it matters much."

"Derek Morgan," holding his hand out to her for a shake.

"Alecta," taking the proffered hand and shaking it.

Almost immediately they were both struck by the size differences of their hands. In the meantime, Fort slid Alecta's drink across the bar to her.

"You wanna try some of it? It's kinda strong, so be careful"

Morgan just gave her the kind of look that said 'I am a real man, I can take it'.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

Morgan took a sip off the drink, and he did sputter a little bit.

"Damn. What's in this, Drano?"

"Told ya, it's not for the weak." (Giggling) Alecta tossed the drink back, downing nearly half of it at one time.

Then, still being a little overheated because of the closeness of the crowd in the bar, she pulls her hair back into a sloppy up do for a minute, letting the back of her neck cool off.

This whole time, Morgan's sight had rarely left the little woman in front of him.

"Fort, you better hit me with another….it's one of those nights."

"How do you know so many people here? I don't know that I've ever seen you here before."

"You're right about that. I haven't been to this place in years. I used to date the owner a long, very long, time ago. Fort, here, and I are old pals. Right baby?"

"You got it Lil Momma."

Alecta looked up just in time to see her ex making his way over to her.

"So, Red, is this man bothering you?

"Not so much. (Seeing his head of security, Ogre, behind him) And he's hot, so don't do anything bad to him. I may want to get around to that later." Giving the man, who called himself Wolf, a mischievous grin that   
made Morgan actually blush a little bit. 

"Ok. I promise. I haven't seen you around in forever. How have you been?"

"Wolf, I'm onto my third Electric Chair, about to move onto a 'Zombie', or maybe a 'Mind Eraser'….what do you think?"

"I think you better call a cab when you're done. Why so stressed?"

"It's really not worth talking about; at least not here, not right now."

There was such a weary look in her eye that Morgan knew it wasn't good news.

"Anyway,' she continued, after downing her third drink, 'I may actually cut it short tonight, I don't need a dry bar tonight. I have an early morning tomorrow. Better be heading home."

"What's up with tomorrow?" both Morgan and Wolf asked.

"I start a new job. Whoop-di-do. And I feel like I better at least try to get some decent sleep."

"Would you like me to arrange a car to take you home?" Wolf asked.

"Nah. I've got that covered but thanks all the same."

"I'll walk you to the car you have waiting."

Turning to look at Morgan, she smiled rather impishly, "Very well. Thank you."

She hopped down off of her bar stool, one that it felt like took half her life to get onto in the first place, and allowed him to escort her to the door.

"So my friend over at the table said you might be checking me out?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Oh come on, you've gotta level with me."

"Why? Are you about to lose a bet? If I was, so what, 95% of the female population here was checking you out, and the other 5% just recently had their eyes gouged out. This should not be anything new to you.   
Anyway, here's my ride."

"Wait. Uh…"

"Awww. That's cute, you're speechless, how often does this happen?' handing him a napkin, 'this, is my number. That is my name. Remember it, you may want to scream it later."

With that she got into the car, leaving a completely dumbfounded Derek Morgan in her wake. But, in the back of the taxi, Alecta released the breath she'd been holding in for a while now. She hadn't been sure how well her bravado would hold out. Now, her hands were shaking, her palms were cold and clammy, and her heart was pounding in her chest so hard she could feel it in her ears. God, how long was this car ride going to take? It didn't seem to take so long to get here. Now, when she was trying to make her get away, it seemed as though the few short miles were dragging. She had to get home. She had to shut herself behind her 10 deadbolts, and that was just on her front door. Her bedroom door had at least five more. Yes. She knew that made her sound strange, but let people judge her. They weren't trying to get away from the devil himself.

Meanwhile back in the bar, Morgan bought a round of drinks for the table. He noticed that Garcia had never really settled after seeing the other woman. He wondered, not for the first time that night, what that could be about.

"Be careful if you decide to tangle with Red," he heard Wolf's voice beside him as he waited at the bar for Fort to fill the order he'd placed.

"Why would I need a warning?"

"I've seen you in here before. I know you never cause trouble, that's not what I'm saying. But she's not like the usual women you have been seen with. I'm just saying, one man to another, be careful. No threat intended."

With that, Wolf walked away, Ogre in tow, to make his rounds checking on his customers and seeing to business.

Morgan went back to the table, followed by a server bringing a tray of drinks. He noticed Prentiss smirking at him.

"What?"

"So, how'd it go Casanova?"

"How does it always go, Prentiss?" Rossi chimed in with his two cents.

"For your information, I did get her name and number."

"Uh oh. How many does this one make? I mean just this week?"

"Really, Reid, you want to ask me that again?"

Hotch just snorted a bit in laughter. Garcia managed a smile, but she remained quiet, and JJ couldn't help but laugh at Reid's comment. The fact that Garcia had yet to say anything about Morgan scoring yet another name and number for his little black book was telling. Hotch had to wonder what was on her mind. Like Morgan, he had noticed a change in her since she saw the stranger. And he knew that, if he and Morgan noticed it, odds were that Rossi noticed it as well. But then again, Hotch noticed a slight variation in Rossi's demeanor as well. What was going on? Tomorrow morning he would have to talk to Dave about this. Although he realized the likelihood that Rossi would tell him the truth was slim.

There was maybe another hour or so before the group decided to call it a night and make their ways to their homes. Hotch offering a ride to Prentiss, Rossi was going to take Reid and JJ home. And as usual, Morgan was giving Garcia a lift.

Nobody was the wiser about how things would be so different in the morning.


	3. Who Are You? Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alecta (my OC) starts her first day within the BAU. Usual new kid jitters, etc.

Alecta walked into the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit about a half an hour early. She was already nervous, she didn’t need to add being late AND reprimanded on her first day at her new job. On a good day her nerves were frayed. On a day like today, they were on the verge of falling completely apart. As she walked through the doors and farther into the bull-pen, being led by agent Anderson, she managed to run her hands through her hair and down her sides, and then over the front of her outfit, making sure to smooth out any last minute creases that would have come up before meeting her knew bosses and colleagues. Running her hand through her hair had always served as a kind of safety blanket for her. Soon she was made to stand near a group of about four agents hovering around a single desk. They were merely chit-chatting to pass some free time between sheaves of paper work to catch up on.

As Alecta got closer to the small group, they turned to look at her. She was uncomfortable as hell, never had liked all eyes in a room being on her in her life. And since she had entered the room, most everyone there had been staring at her. ‘Oh hell,’ she thinks to herself. She recognized the four from the bar the night before. Things just keep getting better.

“Can I help you?” Morgan smiled at her when he realized who he was looking at.

“God yes. Thank your mother for me next time you see her.” She hoped she was convincing. 

“Is there someone specific you need to talk to?” Prentiss couldn’t help but snicker. And J.J. and Reid had smiles on their faces as well.

“Yes. So sorry. I need to speak with…”

(Hotch, coming to the top of the steps in the bull pen) “Alecta Davis? If you would step into my office we can get through this paperwork as soon as possible.”

“Of course, yes sir. Sorry ya’ll the boss wants to rap with me about some stuff. Don’t mourn my absence too much, “ she grinned as she walked away, but inwardly she kept chanting ‘Oh hell, oh hell’.  
Morgan was watching every move she made, and she was watching him. They couldn’t take their eyes off of each other. As she climbed the steps to the landing where Hotch stood, she tripped up a step or two, having been still staring at Morgan. 

“Damn, who put that step there?”

Hotch couldn’t help but chuckle. 

“After this we will take you out and introduce you to your team, if that’s ok.” Hotch mentioned after they came to the last page or two of the paper work.

“By, all means, yes. That would be great. “ Yeah, really great.

“I must warn you, they may try to interrogate you a bit. I’ll do my best to warn them off, or to let them know that they should at least take it easy and pace themselves. But I make no promises.”

“I’m used to getting grilled. Bring it on.”

“You may regret ever saying that.”

Finally finished with the dirty words paper work, Hotch led her back down the steps into the bull pen.

“Watch your step. It’s easier to recover from falling up than it is to fall down.” 

“Aren’t you a font of knowledge.” A sardonic grin passed over her face. 

“Attention everybody I would like to introduce you to our newest member. This is agent Davis. Alecta Davis. She comes to us from the LAPD. She was a detective with their sex crimes division. She has nearly 20 years of experience. (Turning to Alecta) Please, make yourself at home. This is Agent Emily Prentiss, Jennifer Jareau-she’s our media liason, Dr. Spencer Reid, Agent Derek Morgan; you should be meeting our technical analyst soon. Feel free to come to myself or Agent Rossi if there are any particular questions you have.”

“Yes, of course. Thank you so much.”

“If you need anything…” Rossi stepped close to her, with almost a whisper.

“I know. Thank you.” Alecta whispered back.

“You can have this desk between me and pretty boy over here” Morgan said, as Rossi turned and walked away. “It’s one of the few empty ones we have.” Morgan stated as Rossi turned away.

“That’s fine by me. Thanks. So what are we doing right about now? Any cases yet, or paper work or what?”

“No new cases. There’s always a ream of paper work to catch up on.” Prentiss throws in.

“Well. Is there anything I can do to help at all?”

“Not too much. Unless you want to run some of these files to Garcia’s office; she’s the techie that Hotch spoke of. I can show you where she’s located so you won’t get lost the first time…” JJ let her know.

“Sure, why not. I have to make it look like I work here.”

“Right this way.” 

Morgan watched the two women walk in the direction of Garcia’s lair. He happened to notice how much shorter and more petite Alecta seemed when compared to JJ. JJ was about 5’8 or 5’9, and this girl couldn’t be   
more than about 5’3-5’4. And she was slim, but with enough meat on her bones to still have some killer curves….for a second there Derek would’ve sworn he was actually starting to drool a little. And she had a head of hair that you could lose a hand in. Large dark brown captivating eyes; in that way she reminded him of his baby girl.

“Hey Reid, break out the mop & bucket. I think Morgan is gonna drool over here…big time.” Prentiss said with a chuckle.

”Shut it.” Morgan stated with a grumble.

”By all means drool away. She isn’t hard on the eyes. The only thing that you should be ashamed of is your reaction time.”

Reid couldn’t help but laugh a bit at that. “Seriously, Morgan, we hardly know anything about the woman yet.”

“But we are about to find out. Here comes JJ. We can pump her for a little bit of information.” Prentiss was trying to look busy, and failing.

“JJ….”

“Morgan? (Seeing the look on his face) She’s nearly 40. Between 5’3-5’4, about 120lbs. She is a registered lethal weapon…”

“You mean she’s a carrier?”

“No, Reid. SHE is the registered lethal weapon. She is terrified of guns, but has deadly accuracy with them when the situation calls for it. She prefers to use a blade when she is forced into combat. She says they cause less mess and aren’t as noisy as guns, and you can be more precise with your aim; draw-back is how close that you have to be to your target. She’s in the middle of an UGLY divorce from her second husband. That’s at least part of the reason she transferred out here. She is part of an underground clique that is known as the ‘Sisters of St. Agnes’….very little is known about their actual activities, but there are rumors. There is a fraternal organization to the Agnes’s; it is known as the Knights of St. George….again, rather clandestine. Garcia knows her, and she knows Garcia, but neither would elaborate as to how. That is where you will have to do your own dirty work Morgan, I love you like a brother, but I have to consider my health.”

“Well then it looks like I better get this stray file over to baby girl then, don’tcha think.”

“Morgan!”

JJ was too late; he had already taken off to hunt down Garcia & the new girl. Half way there he passed Alecta in the hallway; she was on her way back to the bull pen. She smiled coyly at him. Like she had a coy bone in her body, he’d never believe that. 

“Bull pen’s this way right? And are you going to pop quiz Garcia about me?”

”Yes. And guilty.”

“I wish you well with that. Let me know how it goes for ya.”

“What were you trying to warn Morgan about?” Prentiss wanted to know sooo bad.

“Just that it would be pointless to ask Garcia a bunch of questions. She won’t be giving him the information he wants about this anytime soon. I didn’t want to tell him that Garcia was a part of the St. Agnes’s as well. That would lead to a whole lot of uncomfortable questions for her. This way she can answer them the way she chooses. I just hope I did right by leaving out what I could. But she’ll never break the code of silence…you know her.”

Going back into the bull-pen, Alecta made a bee-line straight for Rossi’s office, knocking on the door.

“Come in. Oh, so soon? Would you like a drink?”

“Old man, it’s the middle of the afternoon. (Seeing the look he shot her from across the desk as she took her seat) Two fingers, please.”

“So, what’s…?” He was cut off by Alecta as she cut straight to the chase, after taking a hit off the Scotch he’d passed over to her.

”They are already starting to ask a bunch of questions.”

“About the Agnes’s I take it.”

”You would be correct. What am I going to tell them? I mean half of the reason we’ve been so successful in our ventures is because nobody knows about us (getting another look of near indignation from the older gentleman), well nearly nobody, outside of those people that require our services. There are a few online rumors about our work, but that’s all it really is, rumors. No one in the society has ever dared to speak to the press. No one that is a benefactor of our venture has ever mentioned their involvement with us. We all cover each other’s backs. If push comes to shove, an Agnes will do jail time before we out anyone else. And here they are, out there, wanting to know where I come from, what I have been up to before joining the BAU….I don’t quite know what to tell them.”

“Try the truth. They are a very loyal bunch. They would never say a word.”

”Ummmm….”

“Look. Derek-agent Morgan, he went through some things as a young man that wound up having him being arrested for the murder of a teenage boy a few years back…I don’t know what that was, and the team   
has never discussed it with me. Morgan, at times has made references to it, but never really out right talks about it. I figure someone he looked up to has abused him. He trusts almost nobody, except Garcia. He counts on his team in the field, and he knows we all have his back in a pinch. But Garcia, he trusts way beyond anyone else. Garcia, that woman alone is an enigma. Don’t even get me started on her. She’s something else. Prentiss…”

“Yes, yes. I know about Morgan’s past. It involves a man named Buford. It was ugly. And that’s all I will say about that. I have had eyes on him ever since Morgan was picked up on that bogus charge. I will never tell Morgan that I know…If he asks, I won’t lie. But if it never comes up in conversation, I won’t be the one to bring it up. Garcia….that’s a story for a different day. Our paths have crossed on more than one occasion. We’ve saved each other’s necks a time or two. Prentiss, and Ian Doyle, enough said there. And I know Hotch has his issues with what happened to his marriage, and then his ex-wife’s murder. I’m glad he beat that bastard to death. We were on the verge of catching him ourselves. But he just couldn’t leave Aaron Hotchner alone. He kept going back. I think as a nemesis he was well suited for Hotch…though in the long run, I think that Hotch was really way far out of Foyette’s league, as far as being a better man all ‘round”

“Would you or any of the Agnes’s have ever done anything about Foyette?”

“I hate to say this. But it’s doubtful. None of the crimes he ever committed were ever of an overtly sexual nature. I mean maybe in some way his stabbing his victims to death may have had some sexual connotations to it, I’ll grant you that. But he never raped or molested his victims. And since his victims were usually couples or mixed company, it’s not like he singled out any one kind of victim. It wouldn’t have fit into the scope of our work. We would have mainly held him for the local authorities. Now, had his crimes ever possessed an overt sexual nature to them, then, yes; we would have eventually been called in by God knows who to look into them. And at that time we would have stepped in to stop him. And I don’t mean just taking him to jail. He was a slippery little bastard. He would have been dealt with accordingly, if you understand my meaning.”

”Ok. So you know so much about all of us, what makes us tick. You know Morgan’s secret, Hotch’s, Garcia’s, etc. Why is it so wrong for them to know yours?”

”I’m not saying it is. But ya’ll have had years to get to know one another and to form whatever bonds are in place. I’m just arriving here. I don’t know any of them from Adam’s house cat, except you. And to be   
quite honest I have never talked to anyone about what happened during that under-cover mission that I went on. And I don’t know any of you well enough to tell the rest of my story to. And beyond that, anything else I have to say would be incriminating towards the Agnes’s. And Garcia is an Agnes. I don’t want to blow her right to privacy out of the window. But Morgan has just gone into her office to ask her questions, questions about how we know each other…I am not so worried that he would find out about the Agnes’s, she would never, I know that much for sure. But the other stuff….I don’t know how she would wind up explaining that.”

”What other stuff are you talking about?”

”How cute. You really think that you would be able to trip me up that easily? Give me some credit. I just need a little time to get to know the team before I just go spilling my guts to everyone. I’m going through a ‘bitter’ divorce right now….actually, bloody might describe it better. The last time I trusted somebody with my life, he almost took it. I have to be more careful don’t you see.”

”Well, yes, I can understand that, now that you put it into that kind of perspective.”

”Even if you don’t care a thing for me, if you never did, don’t let him grill Garcia. I don’t want her put into that position where she feels as though she is forced to tell him everything. She’s entitled to keep something like this private as long as she can, if that’s what she chooses. I just want her to have the time to think of what to say or how to say it that won’t leave her feeling like crawling under a rock and dying.”

”I’ll find a way to sidetrack Morgan for you both then. Don’t worry.”

”Thank you.”

She set her empty scotch glass down and walked quietly back to her desk and sat down, going through some of her boxes that had since been brought up by security. She sat out her laptop that had a cover on it of her with some handsome blond haired guy. And then she set out a few framed photographs, and a rock with some words carved into it that Reid, JJ, and Prentiss couldn’t quite make out from the distance of Reid’s desk. She set the rock down in the file bin on her desk, apparently set to use it as a paper weight when the time was right. 

”Who’s this guy?” Prentiss asked holding up a frame.

”That (taking the frame gently from Prentiss, admiring the image in it), that is my best friend, Kevin. He should have been my first husband. We’ve known each other since we were in diapers. We were supposed to be married, but I left him when we were 15. My life was a wreck back then. But he’s an awesome man, one of the finest I think I ever met. But I guess he gets that from his daddy, Mr. Dan’el; he’s in this picture, with his wife, Mrs. Ouisa. They are so wonderful.”

”If that was the case, why would you leave?” Asked Reid.

”Like I said, my life was a wreck. I didn’t deserve them. I wanted him to be able to find someone way better ‘an me. Anyway, we are still good friends. We talk by phone or email several times a week. “

Derek had been coming back up the hall and heard part of the conversation and couldn’t believe the way she thought so negatively of herself. What was wrong with her? Most men he knew personally would kill to have a woman like her to come home to. What was so bad about her life that she thought she wasn’t good enough? He didn’t have time to figure it all out now…he had gotten a call to meet with Rossi in his office. He hadn’t been able to question Garcia much at all. She was being damned evasive. He didn’t like it. That usually meant something big coming from her. Morgan could tell from her body language and some of her other behavior that she was hiding something huge, that something had happened to her a long time ago and she didn’t want to talk about it with him; perhaps she felt that he would see her differently in the light of day, if she chose to explain it. As it was, she just kept hiding behind the code of silence that she said the St. Agnes’s employed. It was a convenient excuse, he knew that to her this was as good as dr. /patient privilege, and that she would never break it. So now he was on his way to meet with Rossi and see what he was after.

”You wanted to see me?” Knocking on Rossi’s door, and entering.

”Yeah. Sit.”

”What is this about?” Taking a seat.

”Stop grilling Garcia. She isn’t going to tell you a damned thing. She has that code of silence thing.”

”How did you…? The new girl?”

”Yes. She came to see me. We had a brief discussion. She wanted me to keep you off of Garcia’s back.”

”Rossi, what do you know?”

”What makes you think that I know anything?”

”Don’t play games with me. What happened to my baby girl? How does she know Agent Davis? What happened to Davis?”

”I can’t tell you that. Agent Davis has a certain level of trust in me that I wouldn’t break if you were the pope himself. But what I can say is that….It’s as bad as you want to imagine, maybe even a little worse. Davis, she usually answers to Lex, has never really explained everything to me. I mainly only know what’s in her file, with a few other details thrown in for good measure. But that’s enough to fill volumes. But I won’t break the trust she has shown me, not for you or for anyone else. Give Garcia some space on this. And don’t go badgering Davis…they will tell you in their own time. You know how protective you are of certain information about yourself? Aren’t they entitled to a little privacy, at least for now?”

”I just…”

”I know Morgan, really I do. You want to know what happened to Penelope so bad, mostly so you can make sure it’ll never happen again. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. You are her friend; you take care of each other. That’s what you do when you are friends with somebody. And maybe somewhere inside of her Pen wants to tell you what’s going on, but she has to find the right way to do it. And let’s face it, here, at work is not the best place to have that conversation. Trust me on this. As for Lex, don’t push her. She has already said that she doesn’t mind the questions so much, but that she does need time to get used to everybody.”

”How do you know her?”

”Oh no. That would be telling. Just please, give her, give them both, time.”

”Ok. Ok. I guess you’re right. But you might want to tell the others that. (Pointing out of Rossi’s office window towards the bull-pen).”

Rossi hung his head and shook it, almost in an exasperated way. This was going to be like herding fish, a lost cause. He figured he better let Alecta handle this bit. If he tried to jump in and save the day it would make things look suspicious and more awkward, and then the questions would never stop. At least by letting her handle this now, maybe, with any luck, the others would let it rest. It was doubtful, but he had to hope. 

Meanwhile, JJ had managed to make it back to her office to look over a couple of files and decide which one might be their next case. Once that was done she took two different case files up to Hotch’s office for a final decision.

”Conference room, NOW.” came the bellow from Hotch.


	4. Who Are You? Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit is starting to get real, slowly but surely.

“Conference room NOW.” Came the bellow from Hotch.  
************************************************************  
Alecta looked at Prentiss who explained that meant they had a new case, and an urgent one at that, apparently.

Everybody started filing into the conference room as directed, Alecta took a seat over by Rossi, with Prentiss sitting on the other side of her.

JJ grabbed the remote and began by plastering photos of various victims on the screen in front of the table. “Cassie Andrews, Retta Guglielmi, Eliza Elliott, and Lucy Miller. All four women went missing from different areas of southern California over the last two months.”

“The file says they didn’t notice a pattern until quite recently, within the last couple of weeks or so,” Rossi interjected, looking over his copy of the file.

“Quite right. A detective with the West L.A. precinct was the first to pick up on the pattern, Detective Rocha. He says that he wouldn’t have even thought much about the case at all except that three different women went missing in the last week alone from separate women’s shelters in his area. He began to ask around to see if there were similar cases & found these previous four.”

“What are the names of the three most recent victims from Det. Rocha’s area?” Morgan wondered out loud.

“Brook York. She was in her mid-thirties and had two children. Robin Snider was only about 26, with no children. And then last, but not least, was Eileen O’Laughlin. She’s in her 40’s with three children. She had a divorce in the works.”

“Some of these women are blonde, some are brunette. So there aren’t many physical similarities…but what else?”

“It says here, based on the bodies that have already been found, that the women all suffered severe beatings & sexual attacks prior to death.”

“Correct Boss Man; one woman was so badly disfigured that she was only identified through DNA and dental records…a physical identification was next to impossible.” Came Garcia’s findings.

“Uh. Hotch.”

“Yes JJ.”

“That was LAPD. (Reading the text she just received) Two of the bodies of the most recent victims have just turned up.”

“Grab your gear; we’re wheels up in 30 people. Davis, are you ready? I want you with us on this one.”

“Of course, yes sir. I never leave home without my bag.”

Sensing her anxiety over returning to Los Angeles so soon, Rossi squeezed her left hand, which she quickly withdrew, but it wasn’t before he realized how shaky and clammy it was.

Garcia headed to her lair to begin to dig into the women’s lives. The only links they had to each other were manner of death, alternating hair colors, and having spent time living in women’s shelters. Other than that, not much was known about any of the women. They needed to find out anything that she could possibly turn over. What grocery stores did the women frequent? Had they ever been part of a gym? What restaurants did they eat at with any regularity? The team needed anything that would show a pattern, some possible way that a suspect could have met these women. All they had at this time was a basic idea of the age and race of the suspect, and some general idea of body type. He was likely a Caucasian male, late 40’s to early 50’s, and in decent physical condition if the damage he was able to inflict was anything to go by.

Meanwhile on the westward bound plane Alecta was trying to calm her nerves. She knew the precinct they were headed for wasn’t her former employer; therefore it stood to reason that it wasn’t the precinct where HE was likely to be. Fletcher Davis, the bane of her existence. Things with him had been so bad for so long that she could barely remember the good times. She seemed to have track four from Nickelback’s ‘Silver Side Up’ album on loop in her head.

Alecta was sitting in one of the seats staring out of the window; watching the clouds roll past was doing nothing for her nerves. Instead of being relaxing they seemed to be turning stormy and grey.

“You want some coffee?”

She jumped slightly at the sound of Derek’s voice.

“Are you alright?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m just dandy.”

Morgan knew she was lying, her voice was wavering, her eyes were just as weary---if not more so---as before.

“Excuse me.” With that Alecta jumped up and made her way to the kitchenette area of the plane to get her own drink.

It seemed like it wasn’t too much longer and they were touching down at the airstrip in LA and being introduced to Det. Rocha.

“I’m JJ, we’ve spoken on the phone. These are my colleges; SSA’s Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, Emily Prentiss, Dr. Spencer Reid, and SSA’s Derek Morgan and Alecta Davis.”

“Davis…Davis. Oh yeah, Fletcher’s wife. He said something about you were going to be doing some work for the feds. He said he wasn’t sure how long it would take or when you’d be able to transfer to their field office out here and come back home.”

Her new team noticed how even more color drained from Davis’ face and her blood seemed to run cold.

“Are you friends with Fletcher?”

“Acquaintances really. Most of us hang out at the same watering hole.”

“Oh yes. Of course…well I hate to burst your bubble, but I’m not coming back. If it wasn’t for the fact we had a case to solve, I wouldn’t be caught dead here now. But this isn’t about me, we have six dead women   
and one still missing.”

Morgan grabbed some keys to an SUV they would be borrowing, climbing into the driver’s seat. Prentiss climbed into the back seat of the same vehicle, leaving Alecta to sit shotgun. Hotch, Rossi, JJ, and Reid had taken the other one to follow the detective back to the department. Oh could her day get any better?

Once they were back at the station Det. Rocha helped them get to know the last three victims a little better. Brook York had been a shelter nomad. Robin Snider had never been married, but was hooked up with a total loser boyfriend that would smack her around a lot. And Eileen O’Laughlin, she was trying so hard to get away from her husband. After years of dealing with it, she’d finally had enough.

“Detective, which of the two bodies have turned up?” Rossi inquired.

“We’re not sure yet. Wanted to have DNA run and a few other tests to confirm identity before we jumped the gun.”

“Hotch.”

“Yes Prentiss.”

Prentiss called his attention to a portion of the file on Retta Guglielmi.

“Davis, you worked the original case for this woman.”

“So I did. Hell I barely recognized her from the head shot that was shown in the conference room earlier. She changed her hair. And she has had at least one nose job, as many times as it had been broken. She’s started using colored contacts. She must’ve been about to do another runner.”

Soon enough Hotch had broken the team up into pairs. He was going with Rossi to one of the dump sites and Prentiss was going to go with the detective to one of the known crime scenes. Morgan got sent to three of the women’s shelters that were known to be used by some of the victims, and he was told to take Davis with him. Alecta was sure there was a conspiracy….she just knew there had to be one.

As Morgan and Davis walked into the third and last shelter they were greeted by one of the councilors there.

“I’m Marie Sheridan, you must be agent Morgan.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Lex! (Marie began to hug the smaller woman tightly) I’m so glad to see that you’re alright. After what happened that last time, I was worried sick for days. It was always total shit that you got banned from the   
shelter.”

“Well the safety of the majority has to be put first. And I am only one woman.”

“But you were one of their own, and they did nothing.”

Alecta almost winced from exasperation because she knew that Morgan was gonna be all over this, he probably already had a million questions just marinating in his head now.

“Marie, what do you know about Retta’s disappearance?”

“Oh yes. Not too much actually. She’d been working with one of our ‘operatives’ to get out of town, perhaps even out of state. That Arnie, her husband, he was almost as much of a bastard as Fletcher was to you.   
But I don’t think he could have done this. It’s not his style. And besides, he’s been behind bars for months.”

“Have you seen anyone strange hanging around lately?”

“No Agent Morgan. If anything very much out of the ordinary happens, we call the cops. These women trust us with their lives, and the lives of their children, we can’t take too many chances.”

“Marie, what was the name of the operative that was handling Retta’s case?”

“Mark Goodnight. He has been doing this for years. He used to be a US marshal, so he knows a thing or two about relocating people.”

“Thank you ma’am. This is my card, you can call either Davis or myself if you happen to think of anything else that might be helpful.”

“Of course Agent Morgan. Lex, be careful. He likely knows you’re in town. Sleep with one eye open.”

“Yes, Miss Marie, always.”

As Morgan and Davis began heading towards the door a tiny brown haired little girl that could be no older than four came running up to them calling out for Davis.

“Lexa! Lexa! ‘Mere.”

“Jazzy, I’ve missed you,” Alecta leaned over to scoop the child up as she ran into her arms, and she held her tightly hugging the child to her.

“Where you go for long times?”

“I got a new job. It made me go away.”

“I gotted you some’fin. Mommy has it. But you gotta close your eyes and put me down so I can go get it.”

“Okay.”

“Mr., make sure she don’t peek, ‘cause she’s sneaky.”

With that the little girl took off, running over to a lady that must’ve been her mother. She had a scar down one side of her face, there was no way to tell what that had been from. Soon enough the child returned with the object in her little hands.

“Umkay, Lexa, gimme your hands. Peeze.”

Alecta knelt down and held out her hands, which Morgan happened to notice weren’t that much bigger than the pixie sized child in front of them.

Jazzy placed the object in Alecta’s hand; when Alecta opened her eyes she realized it was a stiletto blade. 

“For real, Mommy got it for you, but wanted me to bring it. She says that it’s for in case the bad people get too close, it may help you get away. Lexa, are the bad people close?”

“Yes baby, they are. But don’t worry. I’ll make them go away like I always do.”

“Ooh! And I maked this for you, (Jazzy passed to Alecta a piece of paper, crookedly folded). And this is for you, too.”

“Where did you get this?” 

Alecta took the small rectangular shaped box from the little girl. It was wrapped in simple brown shipping paper, and tied shut with twine.

“Somebody gived it to me and said that if you came by today that it was a present and I should give it to you for them.”

The piece of paper that Jazzy had given Alecta was a coloring book page of Tinkerbell that the little girl had colored. It made her smile momentarily; she thought back to her own brief childhood. Her mother had   
started a fairy collection for her since she was always so small. 

Soon she had untied the twine, and opened the paper that covered the box, she was careful to do this, damaging it as little as possible.

“Jazzy, baby, can you go back over to your mommy for me. I have to take this back to my job and show my friends my new present. Be a good girl and go back over to your mommy for me please.”

“Okay. Lexa, you come back after you get finished with your work?”

“I’ll try to sweet heart, now go on over to your mommy.”

“Alright.”

Morgan’s curiosity was killing him, “What’s in the box?”

“Not here. I’ll show you when we get back to the department.”

Nodding, Morgan continued to make his way outside and back to the SUV, followed closely by Alecta.

As they made their way out to their ride Alecta noticed the car parked across the street. It was a non-descript, navy blue or black four door sedan, state issued. And she would recognize the driver until the day she died. Saying nothing she climbed up into the passenger seat and buckled up. The ride back to the precinct was so quiet you could’ve heard a pin drop.

****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

“Did you tell him!!!”

Alecta had gone charging back into the police station, making a bee-line for detective Rocha, leaving Morgan to carry the small box.

“What are you…” Rocha was cut off by Alecta grabbing him by his shirt collar and tossing him against the wall.

“Did you tell him!!!” she was practically screaming she was so upset.

“Tell who, what?” Hotch demanded; he needed his agent to make some sense.

“Fletcher. Did. You. Tell. Him?”

Alecta was getting so angry she was beginning to tremble. 

“I haven’t said a word to him, I didn’t even know that you were with this team until you all got here. What are you even talking about?”

“I saw him sitting in a state issued sedan across the street from the last shelter we visited. Can you please beef up security around there?”

“Will you please tell us what’s in this box now?”

“Open it and look for yourselves.”

Doing just that, upon opening the box, the team and Det. Rocha find a human tongue inside.


	5. Who Are You? Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They found out what's in the box. Now Rossi reveals a little bit of what he knows about their newest team member.

Rossi grabbed the box, handing it to a junior detective and demanding that they put a rush on the tests that would need to be run. 

“He’s sending me a message.”

“What would make you think that?” Reid’s curiosity was up.

“Well a four year old girl that I know well at the women’s shelter came to me and said that someone handed her the package and told her to give it to me as a present.”

“What kind of message do you think they would be sending?”

“I’m not really sure.”

Hotch just glared at her, not buying her answer.

“I’m going to call Garcia and see what she has found,” Alecta turned to go into the office that had been set aside for their use to make her phone call; her voice was sort of edgy. 

“Rossi, what do you think she’s hiding?”

“Hotch.”

“You’re not betraying a damned thing.”

“I think she thinks that her estranged husband is behind this somehow.”

“What do you think?”

“This isn’t his style. The only one that he ever beat on was her.”

“How bad was it?”

“Morgan. (Seeing the look he was given) The last beating she took left her in the hospital for weeks.”

“What happened?” Prentiss figured it would look less suspicious if she asked what Morgan was thinking.

“He tracked her down to some flea-bag motel in a hideous section of town. There was a fight. He beat the hell out of her. She had taken out divorce papers and a restraining order on him. And she had copies of the paperwork and medical records sent to several people, including me.”

“Rossi.”

By Hotch’s threatening tone he knew not to keep pushing it. So he tossed a copy of the medical file on the desk in front of them.

“He broke her jaw. A few ribs. She had a fractured collar bone. Hell he managed to throw her around hard enough that he cracked her tailbone and pelvis. The blow that did the most damage was when he put her   
head through the window. Every movement she makes is excruciating for her even now. That broken pelvis is a hard injury to heal from. And she hasn’t long had the use of her jaw back. Yeah, he’d beat the hell out of her today if we’d let him. But I don’t think he’d do it to someone else.”

“How can you be sure?”

“They both worked the sex crimes unit, ironically enough. How could they keep him on the pay roll if he went around beating the same women he was supposed to protect? Besides, he’s not the type to poach in   
another person’s territory.”

“They never backed her up?” Prentiss was getting as angry as Morgan now.

“She tried to get restraining orders. He’d go in, bat his eyelashes and tell them that they just had a lover’s spat and she was angry. He’d flash his badge around and the medical files would go missing or the doctors would get amnesia. She didn’t have a chance. Now, I’m finished. You wanna know something else about her, ask her. I have nothing else to say about it.”  
With that said, they made their way into their makeshift command center. Upon entering the room they saw her standing mere feet away from Fletcher, her husband, soon to be ex-husband. There was fear in her eyes even though she was trying to bluff him.

“What, you here to finish what you started?”

“Hardly.”

“What could you possibly want?”

“I came to see you, actually.”

“Well. I’m alive. Now leave.”

“Darling, is that anyway to talk to your husband?”

“I have a legally binding restraining order, and a gang of federal agents right behind me, and a department full of locals. Please, I’m begging ya. Do something stupid.”

“Yeah, they didn’t stop me before, what makes you think they will now?”

“What are you here for Davis?” Rossi stepped forward, putting himself between Alecta & Fletcher.

“Listen old man, this doesn’t concern you. Step away and nothing bad has to happen to you. This is between my wife and I.”

Suddenly there was a slap that reverberated throughout the police department.

“You come near him and I will have your guts for garters. Now, what is it that you want?”

Rubbing his jaw, glaring at his wife, Fletcher dropped a package onto the desk closest to him.

“This came to our house, addressed to you.”

Watching him closely, knowing better than to trust the devil, Alecta reached for the package. Upon opening it she saw that there was a DVD and some still photos. Also there were some personal effects; a pony tail holder, tatters of a shirt.

“I figure it’s got something to do with the case you’re here about.”

“Have you watched it?”

“No. That would be tampering with evidence. Of all the things I ever did, I would never jeopardize a case.”

“Thank you,” Alecta absent mindedly walked away from him, with the package in her hand.

“I think it was time that you left,” Morgan was waiting for the behemoth to give him an excuse.

“We have to get the package itself to trace and see if there are any prints or anything to be had.”

“Hotch, I have to see what’s on this video.”

“We have the still shots for now. We can go over them, blow them up, and see what they hold for us.”

“I can already tell you, this is Retta Guglielmi. I can tell by the tattoo.”

She handed the package to Hotch, “Do whatever you have to do.”

As she walked away she passed by Fletcher who had turned to get his things to leave. She had one more question on her mind.

“There’s only one more thing I need to know.”

“What’s that?”

“Was there ever….Did you ever love me? At all? Even just a little bit?”

“There was a wager going around the precinct. It was after you came back from your leave of absence, when your first husband died. Everyone had money on how long it would take before someone else could get to you, who it would be, that sort of thing. I won.”

“So, it was just a game to you? There was never love?”

“How could I love you? You were damaged goods. Aside from some mere physical attraction, there wasn’t much left that someone else hadn’t already taken.”

With that he turned to leave finally; and she just nodded her head, as if understanding, for the first time what her suffering boiled down to.

“Hotch, is it ok if I go back to the hotel? I have a migraine coming on; I would like to get some rest now.”

“Yeah, Prentiss, go with her.”

“No. She doesn’t have to come. I know the way.”

They watched her leave; her shoulders slumped, if only just a little.

“Let me know what you find, will you?”

“Yes. Of course.”

She made her way out of the precinct and into a taxi she hailed. She gave the address of the hotel to the driver and sat back, quietly waiting for the ride to end. Once the taxi came to a stop in front of their hotel, she grabbed her bag and made her way to the entrance after paying the driver and leaving a hefty tip. She made her way up to her appointed room, it was adjoining with another. She didn’t know who would have that one yet. Knowing how her luck had been running….

Meanwhile, back at the precinct, Morgan had called Garcia to have her run whatever background checks she could think of for a man by the name of Mark Goodnight. He had been the ‘operative’, so to speak, that the lady, Miss Marie, had spoken off at the women’s shelter. It may lead to nothing at all, but you never want to leave a stone unturned. During that time Garcia was able to call back to give them the low down on the women in the case. There wasn’t much. Of the seven, Robin Snider was the only one who had never married or had children. And she was the youngest. The other six were married to men that ruled their households with iron fists. It seemed as though none of the seven, Robin included, were able to go much of any place without their ‘men’ by their sides. If they went to a restaurant, the husbands or boyfriend (as the case may be) were there as well, the men always paid. That made it easy to track down which restaurants they went to, through the credit card receipts. Then it was a simple matter of hacking into the security footage for any given night of the week. The only place that any of the women ever went without their man was to the grocery store; well, the grocery store and the women’s shelters.  
So soon enough the team split up and canvased the local grocery markets that the women were known to have frequented. They were each told the same story by the employees. Each woman came in, hit a few different isles to pick up whatever was on their list, nothing extra. They made it to the check-out line, paid in credit, and left. Their entire trip to the store never took more than 45 minutes max, unless the lines were long.

It seemed as though the men allowed their women to pay by credit card to track their purchases, and make sure of exactly where they went. Neighbors of several of the women were able to tell investigators that the men in the specific households would keep a precise check on the mileage of the automobiles. One neighbor was even able to tell investigators that in the family next door (the home of Eileen O’Laughlin), the lady was only given so much allowance every two weeks to do the grocery shopping, and every couple of months she was given a certain amount to buy school clothes or whatever necessary items were needed for the family.

“These men controlled every single move these women made,” Prentiss was amazed by the thoroughness that each man went through to accomplish this, if not creeped out a little.

Rossi, just then, received a call on his cell from the M.E.

“The tongue in the box belonged to Retta Guglielmi.”

“Why would he cut out her tongue? What does that accomplish?”

“Well, when we catch him, Pretty Boy, we’ll let you ask him.”

“For now, we should break for a few hours of sleep. We can hit this fresh in the morning. Jet-lag is going to be killing us before long.”

Within 30 minutes the remainder of the team had made it to the hotel finally. By this time Alecta had gotten her shower, running the water as hot as she could stand it, washing her hair, trying to relax herself.   
Once out of the shower she called room service and ordered a sandwich and something to drink while closing the drapes to her room. It may have been almost dusk, but with the migraine she had brewing, it was still too bright in there. And if she woke up with the same headache in the morning, she knew she wouldn’t be able to move enough to shut them then. After eating her dinner and throwing it back up (a symptom of her migraines) she cleaned herself up and crawled into bed. Sitting back against the headboard of the bed, Alecta curled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Then she laid her forehead down against the top of her knees and began sobbing her eyes out.

This was the sound that greeted the team member that had the adjoining room. He had only known of her to cry like that once before. It was years ago. She was institutionalized at the time. He had prayed he’d never have to hear that sound again. But now, David Rossi knew without a shadow of a doubt that this would not be the last time he would ever hear the sound that had come to haunt him over the years.


	6. Who Are You? Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rossi reminisces. Alecta goes missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might as well explain the name Alecta....it goes back to some Greek mythology. Alecto was one of the 'Furies' or 'Erinyes' (infernal goddess)....she represented implacable or unceasing anger...which, when you continue reading her story and see how life has been beating the shit out of her, makes sense that she might be a little angry. Her former married name of Vsevolodvich is from the name Vsevolod 'The Big Nest' who was a Grand Prince in an area of Russia in the 12th-13th centuries. I swear, it's for real, you can google that shit if you want. You'll learn I'm a huge-ish history nerd. I hope that is okay. When I originally wrote this, I was going through this whole fascination with Russian stuff (even bought a Russian/English phrasebook-dictionary; it's pretty cool by the way)....Anyway, thanks for sticking with me this far.

Three hours later Rossi awoke to hear Alecta still sobbing. He had seriously thought about going over to check on her. But most likely she would have both doors to her room locked and chairs jammed up under the knobs to block them shut for good measure. She had a particular quirk about locking the doors around her. And even if she did let him in, she would likely blame her upset on the migraine and brush it off.

Rossi disliked profiling his teammates under most circumstances. But he was an old man, life was getting shorter every day, and this girl was damned confounding. He got out his little notebook that he used to keep his inner thoughts straight. Reaching for his pen he began to write down what he knew about Alecta, only what he was 100% sure of. By the end of his note taking, the things he knew about Alecta would only fill a thimble; and most of that could easily be found in her personnel file.

It was just over 12 years ago that he met her. She was almost 28. At that time her name was Alecta Vsevolodvich. He had been in L.A. doing a book signing and he heard about this young detective, Alecta.   
There was a nationwide task force set up by the bureau that was being used to try to close down a sex trafficking ring run by some Eastern Europeans. She was chosen to go undercover as a 14-15 year old Russian girl. It worked well. She was only about 25 or 26 at the start of the operation, and she looked nearly 10 years younger. She was fluent in nearly 10 different languages; she had been married to a Russian man named Yuri and they had three kids. She knew how to speak the language as well as a native. The assignment was supposed to last six or eight months, but it wound up lasting closer to two years. At the end of it all there was a raid on the warehouse that the traffickers were using to house their operation. Most of the lower level operators were captured, with a few exceptions. But the two front men escaped. They were only known by nicknames that the girls that were rescued gave them; Rasputin and Mengele. They had somehow made it out.

So, Alecta survived two years of torture and abuse at the hands of these monsters. She never cracked. She never lost sight of the ultimate goal. She had to walk a tight rope for so long and held it together. But Rossi still had to meet her in the psychiatric ward of a local hospital. 

Her breakdown was a sad story. In retaliation for her work against them, Rasputin and Mengele put together a car bomb that wound up killing her husband and her three children. She happened to see the entire thing. Yuri had brought the kids with him to come pick her up, she was being released. A nurse was pushing her in the wheel chair. Little Oleg was sitting in her lap, enjoying finally getting long over-due hugs from his mommy. Yuri was carrying the twins. As they reached the portico just outside the emergency entrance of the hospital, Yuri shifted the kids around so he could take them to the car, he was going to pull around and load Alecta into the car. As he cranked the engine, that’s when it happened. The car went up in a ball of flames.   
Rossi had trouble getting information about the case and her story. Apparently she was being treated as a pariah now. It was as if the mere mention of her name left a bad taste in everyone’s mouths. He didn’t care for this at all. This woman had risked literally everything she had to the job, and now they were stonewalling her. He went to the hospital to meet her. He talked to the doctors and nurses before going to see her. Apparently she didn’t have a lot of visitors. She had no family left to speak of. Her mother died when she was a child, and her father was in prison. The only family she had left in the world was Yuri’s brother, Sergei, and whatever family they had back in Russia. The hospital wasn’t aware of any other blood relatives that she had. Sergei didn’t come as often as he wanted because, being an identical twin to Yuri, his visits always upset her so much. She would be so happy thinking that Yuri was coming through the door, and then she’d hug him and know it wasn’t her Yuri. And that would break her heart all over again. And it killed Sergei to have to put her through that. 

Rossi can remember as he came to the door to her room the nurse that escorted him told him that she didn’t sleep or eat much, and she rarely spoke or communicated with anyone in anyway. Almost the only thing she ever did was sit in her chair and stare out of the window, looking down over the parking lot and wait for Yuri. He was warned that if she did happen to speak, she usually only asked where Yuri was at and when was he going to come and see her. The nurse schooled him that the correct answer was that Yuri had phoned and said that he had to work today and that he would be out to see her tomorrow. The nurse told him they knew that it was kind of cruel to lie to her. But the first time she asked that question one of the doctors told her the truth about what happened to Yuri. She flew into a rage of sorts. In a matter of moments, seconds maybe, she managed to stab the doctor up to 15-20 times with a scalpel that she dug out of his pocket. The doctor survived, and made a full recovery. But they knew at that time her mental health was too fragile to handle the truth. 

Rossi entered the room and saw a sad, gaunt woman. There was practically no life in her eyes. She was sitting, curled up in her chair, in some oversized sweat pants and a baggy t-shirt with a huge sweater on over it all. She was staring out the window, just as he was told she would be. He turned her chair around, making her face him. He introduced himself to her, and she just stared at him as he started to talk. He told her why he was in town, his book signing. He had brought a book just for her to keep; she could read it when she got bored. He had heard from some people that she was a pretty good rookie artist…she was good with sketches and things; it was a skill that had been passed down from her mother and grandmother before that. He had managed to bring her a drawing pad and smuggled in some pencils for her. As soon as he handed them to her she began to draw. In a few minutes as he sat there talking to her of whatever mundane things came to him she had sketched out several pictures, as she sketched, there were tears rolling down her face. She held the pad out to him and he took it. She had sketched likenesses of her husband and children, what they had looked like on the last day she saw them. And then she just looked at him with the biggest, saddest brown eyes he’s ever seen. And suddenly she managed a quiet ‘Thank You’. It was weak, but it was there. He had brought some lunch with him, some Italian thing that he’d picked up from one of his favorite places; he asked if she wanted to share it. He requested the nurse to bring her a plate and some utensils. He wasn’t sure it would work, but he wanted to try. He had managed to get her to speak, even if it was only two words.

He put half of the pasta dinner on her plate, and gave her some garlic bread to go with it. As soon as she took a bite of food she looked at him funny.

“This is from momma Santina’s?”

“What do you know about Santina?”

“I love her food. I was only about 19 when I moved out here, fresh out of police academy. I had no money to speak of. I was hungry. Momma Santina kept me alive. I love her. I haven’t been to her place in a long time. How is she, is she still just a whirlwind? I told her she needs to kick back and let the chaps run the place. I should go see her. I mean, if they ever let me out of here.”

“They’ll let you out; all you have to do is keep eating, and let somebody in once in a while, into what you’re thinking. They just want to know that you will eventually be ok.”

“They all think I’m so far gone that I don’t remember what happened that day. I remember it. I can’t sleep for remembering it. The last thing I got to do was kiss my little boy on his chubby rosy cheek before Yuri took him from me. I had been gone for most of his life, I had only had him and the girls back for two weeks, and then….they were gone. I will never forget the look on Yuri’s face as he realized what was about to happen. I wake up every night screaming for them.”

“Why don’t you ever talk to someone about this?”

“Who am I going to talk to? Sergei never comes much, though I understand. Sometimes our old friend Impatiev will come, but his visits are as rare as Sergei’s. I get it, I do. But I have nobody else. I’ve got no family that misses me. The only family that I really had was in that car. And the doctors here, I don’t like them. They’re condescending. They think that just because I sit here day in and day out and just stare off into space that I’m incapable of understanding the things going on around me. They treat me like I’m five years old. I’ve been taking care of myself nearly my whole life. Besides, after Mengele, it’s not like I have a lot of faith in the medical profession. You would think they could forgive me that trespass. And, when they let me out, where am I supposed to go? As long as they think I’m crackers I have a place to live and food to eat, should I be so inclined.”

They talked for a little while longer, finished eating. Luckily he had brought two cannoli. It seems as though she wasn’t really big on tiramisu. It makes her sick actually. 

As he got ready to leave he promised he’d try to stay in touch with her if at all possible; he gave her his card, in case she ever wanted to talk to him again. He leaned over to place a kiss on top of her head and give her a good-bye hug. As he turned to go she jokingly told him that the next time they did Italian, to make sure there was no pesto sauce, she had a horrible allergy to pine-nuts. The sauce that was on this dish was a rustic tomato sauce with some sausage. 

“I’m just giving you a heads up on the pesto.”

Coming back to the present time, Rossi realized that, until she transferred into the BAU, this was the last time he had seen her. He felt like an ass for that; he had made that promise to her. And she had done this all alone, with the exception of Sergei and her friend Impatiev. He would have to really sit down and talk to her about what the last 10 years had been like for her.

But that would have to wait until another day. Hotch was knocking at his door just now. Had he really been sitting there so deep in thought for two hours? Apparently there was a break of some sort in the case, and they were needed back at the police department. After speaking with Hotch at the door, he walked over and knocked on the door between the two rooms. There was no answer. So Rossi figured she was likely in the shower and would be down soon enough. He got ready for the day and made his way down to the lobby. They gave her another 10 minutes. When she didn’t show, Hotch made the decision that she could just catch up with them at the precinct. 

Two hours later, she still hadn’t showed up. Worried, Hotch and Rossi went back to the hotel. They took a desk clerk with them to her room; the clerk slid the master key into the slot on the door handle. Upon opening the door they noticed that she was gone. Her bed was a mess, so she had been in it. But as of right now she was missing. There was some blood on one of the pillows; her cell phone was still on the night table.

In the pit of his stomach, Rossi was beginning to have a very bad feeling about this.


	7. Who Are You? Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They find Alecta. Tiny bits of her life are seeping into the story...again, slowly but surely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh! And her friend Impatiev.....I borrowed his name from Ipatiev House. It is the house that held the basement in which Tsar Nicholas II and his family were executed. Told you I was going through a Russian phase. There are a lot of twins that pop up in this story. I will go ahead and say that Alecta had 2 sets of twins herself and that her first husband, Yuri and Sergei were twins (as the story has revealed already). I added the 3 different sets of twins in reference to my great-grandfather....He had a twin sister, his mother (Delilah, my great-great grandmother) had a twin brother....and also, my great-grandfather had 2 brothers that were a separate set of twins. So 2 generations of the same family with 3 sets of twins. Istvan (the guard at the door to the Tea Room)...that name is a Hungarian variation of the name Steven...can't remember now why I picked it instead of keeping with the Russian theme....But I think I was going for the reference to St. Stephen, the first king of Hungary (btwn 10th-11th centuries). **Pay attention to the saint thing, it will be popping up in a sequel to this story later (that one is my baby, although I have yet to finish it. I seem to have stalled and haven't found the inspiration to continue on with it yet).

Hotch called some crime scene techs in to process the scene. They needed to know whose blood was on the pillow. In the mean-time he and the team went back to the station. Morgan called Garcia and got her to hack the video feeds for the hotel they had been staying at. During this time the DNA analysis had come in on the tongue that they received yesterday. The tongue actually belonged to the youngest victim so far, 26 year old Robin Snider. 

The video that Fletcher had delivered yesterday had been sent to Garcia to analyze, as well as a copy of the photos. The team started combing over the copies of the photos that they had while they waited for Garcia to call back with whatever she had found. The pictures were almost abstract, making it hard to tell what the subject should really be. How had Alecta known it was Retta? 

“Look for tattoos or birth marks.”

“Reid’s right. These angles are impossible to get a reading off otherwise. There would have to be some identifying mark on the woman’s body for Davis to know who she was looking at so quickly.”

Everybody started taking a second look. Morgan’s phone started ringing.

“Baby Girl, I’ve got you on speaker.”

“I have gone over the CCTV footage from the hotel. I was able to see somebody walk up to the door of her room. I can’t see his face; it’s like he knows where the surveillance cameras are. I can tell that he has darker hair. And when I run my algorithm software I am able to figure that he’s 6’4 approximately. He’s dressed as a hotel employee. The way it looks in the video is that he was carrying a blanket. So far that’s all that I have on that. The other video, the one that was delivered by…by…Fletcher…that video is pretty graphic. It shows the suspect sexually assaulting the woman and then carving her up, ‘Ripper’ style. And it’s definitely Retta Guglielmi.”

“How are you able to know this?”

“She had a lantern tattoo on her shoulder; it’s not all that big, just an old school oil lantern.”

“Found it.”

“Well it is distinct. Check the databases, see if you find any other crimes linked to this suspect with similar markings involved.”

“You’re not going to find it in any particular database.”

“Garcia, what are you talking about?”

“Sir. That lantern will not show up on any database, well, not any publicly accessible database that is.”

“And why pray tell would this be the case?”

“Because sir….you see….it’s one of the marks given to the Agnes’s. We….I mean…They don’t register their tattoos on any database. The ink is usually done off the books, and sometimes they’re even done by unlicensed tattoo artists among the society. All of us….All of them have one. Lex has several. Although, you may have a point; if there are other murders with the same M.O., the tattoos will show up on the other bodies…but only IF the victims had any contact with the Agnes’s. So just don’t rely on the tattoos too much. And besides, there’s more than one tattoo. There are several tattoos with many different variations.”

“Ok. Morgan, you and JJ go back to the shelter and speak with your contact from yesterday. Rossi, you and Emily go back to the hotel and question the staff about the man in the video. Take these. Reid, you do your geographic profiling thing.” He reached around and grabbed some copies of the still shots from the video that Garcia had sent to their tablets.

“I’m going to wait and find out what the techs say about the blood from the pillow case and any other evidence found at the scene. Garcia. Keep digging.”

“Yes sir.”

Morgan and JJ arrived at the shelter and make their way over to the office door. JJ knocked. Miss Marie came out into the hallway.

“Agent Morgan. How may I help you? Where is Lex?”

“Ma’am. We need to speak with you about your employee, Mark Goodnight.”

“What about Mark? Where’s Lex?”

“Ma’am, how well do you know Mr. Goodnight?”

“Young lady, where is Lex?”

“Miss Marie, Lex is missing.”

They heard her gasp.

“Do you think Fletcher did it, or your suspect?”

“We’re looking into it as we speak.”

“You’ve got to find her. She tries to be all tough. But she’s not really. She’s just this little girl who hasn’t ever stopped running.”

“Ma’am, focus please. Mr. Goodnight, what do you know about him?”

“Let me get you his personnel file.”

As Morgan and JJ went over the file with Miss Marie they realized that his file was pretty thorough. It was almost too thorough. It was painting him in such a rosy light. It said that he retired from the military and from the US Marshals. Both agents made the decision to double check this with Garcia once they got back to the precinct. His personnel file was too clean. Everybody had at least one termination from some job, somewhere. This guy had none. It mentioned a divorce in his past, and that he had children. But other than that cursory mention there wasn’t much else.

“What happened to Lex? Please, tell me. She’s like a daughter to me almost.”

“All we know at the moment is that she went missing sometime during the night. When we went to get her up this morning, all that was left was some blood on her pillow. We’re not even sure if it’s hers or not.”

“Damn.”

“Miss Marie, what do you know about Alecta?”

“Why? What do you want to know?”

“Ma’am, it may help us in the long run to figure out what made her susceptible to being taken. If we know more about her, how she got to this point…”

They could see Miss Marie weighing her options. She was wringing her hands together, biting down on her lower lip. She was nervous of what to tell them. She didn’t seem afraid of Lex; it seemed more like she was worried about breaking some promise to Lex.

“Ma’am, we’re her friends. We just want to get her back in one piece.”

“How far back do you want me to go?”

Under different circumstances Derek would have thought he hit the jack pot. But right now was not the time.

“Anything Miss Marie, anything you might know will help.”

“Her father was a drunk, a roaring drunk; his name was Jake. When Lex was four, Jake beat her mother to death while she watched. He got away with it for years.”

“How?”

“Well; after the final blow, he left the house. Hours later he came back with a friend, rearranged everything to make it look like a burglary gone wrong. The town sheriff at the time was the father of Lex’s friend, Kevin; his name was Daniel Eason. He really wanted to put Jake away bad. But they had no evidence to speak of. Of course Jakes fingerprints were going to be in the house. He lived there. Before that the house had been in his family for generations. At some point in Jake’s life he had touched everything in that house….including Lex. Once the cops combed over the house, they took Lex to the hospital. She had been covered in blood; they had to make sure it wasn’t her own. As it turns out, it was just her mom’s. When sheriff Eason found Lex at the house she had been cradling her mother’s head and shoulders trying to make her wake up. She’d been left alone with the body for hours. At the hospital the detectives tried to question her about what she saw, with a child advocate present of course. They asked her if she saw who killed mommy. She was sitting on Jake’s lap, with his hand around her waist….”

“What happened Marie?”

“Lex said once that she looked back at her father; he’d been playing the distraught husband and father really well. He told her to tell the truth, that the cops would catch the bad guy that hurt mommy. But she saw the look in his eye. She knew better. That child was terrified. She turned back to the detective and advocate and began to cry for her mommy. She made a real good show of it too, so as to leave no doubt that the interview was over. She knew that, if she told the truth, and they didn’t believe her that she would be dead as soon as they got home. She had just watched Jake beat her mother to death with his bare hands. She was four, what chance did she have. So she lied. She lied; and she’s paid for it every day of her life since then. She’s felt like trash ever since.”

“Go on.”

“They were allowed to go home. Her life went from bad to worse then. She was trapped in that house for 11 more years alone with HIM.”

“How did you meet her?”

“Well, Agent Morgan, when she first made detective she was immediately sent to the sex crimes division. I have worked at one shelter or other for years. And we met over this one case that she worked umpteen years ago. I barely remember scant details of it anymore. But we became fast friends. She needed a mother, and I never had any kids of my own….it fit for us to be pals. When she first met and started dating Fletch, I thought maybe, she might finally have a chance to be happy. But, then, he turned on her. It seems we were both so very wrong about that.”  
It was about this time a lawyer showed up and needed to speak with Miss Marie about one of the ladies at the shelter.

“I’m sorry agents. I have to go. He’s here to speak with a woman trying to get some legal help against her husband.”

“Very well; if we need anything we’ll come back later.”

“Whatever you need Agent Morgan, just please find our girl.”

Morgan and JJ made their way back to the police department. In the meantime Rossi and Prentiss had been questioning the management of the hotel as well as the desk clerk that had been on duty the night before. According to what they had been told, the man in those still shots didn’t work for the hotel.

“Are you sure; look closely and make sure.”

“Agent Prentiss, I am sure. I know all of my employees. I’ve worked with most all of them for several years. I have never seen this man before. But this is a uniform for our male staff members such as the desk clerks or the bartender in the lounge. It’s possible that someone could have stolen it at some point. Though I’m not sure how.”

“Ok. Thank you for your time.”

“Of course agent Rossi, of course.”

As Rossi and Prentiss turned to leave they failed to see the manager take his cell phone out of his pocket to place a phone call. 

Everyone convened back at the police department to discuss their findings. 

Garcia called back to discuss what she found while digging a little deeper on Mark Goodnight.

“Sir.”

“Garcia.”

“Mark Goodnight’s personnel file was fairly correct. He had been in the Navy. He had been a US Marshal. He was divorced, and he does have three children. But that’s where the truth ends. He was kicked out of both the Navy and the Marshals for conduct unbecoming….you want to know why, you will have to read the files on that yourself. I’m sorry sir; Uncle Sam doesn’t pay enough to make me go back through it….suffice it to say his exit from the Navy involved crimes against humanity. His divorce….proceedings were started by his wife about 10 years ago. It took a few years to wrap it up, mainly because of the custody battle involved.”

“What else ya got Garcia.”

“Oh my Italian stallion….cool your jets. I have several pictures off of various ID’s from his Navy & Marshal days. And from going through his files I was able to get vital statistics. He’s about 6’2, dirty blonde, blue eyes, 185lbs. After a little more digging I was able to find out a little family history. Both of his parents are dead. The only family he has left besides his ex-wife and children would be his brother. And that brother’s name is Nathan Goodnight. I’m sending you a DMV photo of Nathan Goodnight in 3, 2….”

An enlarged DMV photo of Nathan Goodnight came through on their tablets.

“Son of a bitch!”

“Rossi…”

“We talked to him. He was the manager of the hotel. Only his name was Paul Mackey.”

“How much you want to bet that he called his brother as soon as we left.”

“Odds are he didn’t even wait for you to get out of the door to the hotel.”

“JJ, we’re checking out of this place. See what you can do about relocating us. Rossi, we need to go back to the hotel to collect our things.”

“I would like to have another word with that manager.”

“We will Dave. Trust me, we will.”

“Hotch, I can call Garcia to have her run a trace on the phone call that Nathan made to his brother. She can track down what number he called, and we can see if she can triangulate it and narrow down a search area.”

“Good idea Reid.”

JJ got on the phone to a few other local hotels letting them know they needed lodgings for their seven members for the next 3 days approximately. It took some doing, but she finally got accommodations.

Meanwhile, Hotch and Rossi went back to the hotel (along with some local LEOs) and placed Nathan Goodnight under arrest. They also retrieved the team’s luggage. 

Upon receiving a call from Garcia to get a more precise search location Morgan, Reid, and Prentiss took off with some other LEOs and detectives to raid some possible hot spots. Hotch, Rossi, and JJ joined them as soon as they were able to after the hotel manager was secured in an interrogation room. 

Before the entire team was reunited in their search Garcia was able to provide one last snippet of information about the parents of Mark and Nathan Goodnight. It seemed that, not only had their parents been dead for years, but Mrs. Goodnight had murdered her husband in self-defense. It never mattered because she was railroaded in court and sent to prison where she committed suicide some months later. The boys were sent to live with family. Mark had been about 13 at the time, and Nathan was about 10. The home they were placed in happened to be that of an uncle and aunt, this home too had domestic abuse running rampant. It was all they had known growing up apparently.

The team was coming up on the last possible site for miles. It was an old warehouse. ‘Why do they always pick warehouses?’ Morgan couldn’t help thinking to himself. They methodically went through the rooms on the first floor, clearing them one by one. Rossi was anxious to find Davis and make sure she was in one piece, considering what the UNSUB had done to his other victims. And Rossi had a pretty decent idea that he wasn’t the only one having that same thought. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that this guy had better thank his lucky stars that there weren’t two of Morgan. One was hard enough to control at times. Two would positively rip the man limb from limb. Although if Dave had to be honest with himself just now, that wasn’t a bad idea; maybe he should phone in the odd favor or two. But then again, if word got around too much that this guy had dared to put his grubby paws on Alecta, there would be no safe place for him. He was a dead man anyway. The Agnes’s and the George’s both had ‘people’ in the joint. And even if they didn’t get the job done, there were a few people affiliated with Alecta’s old friend Impatiev that could see to it that Mark Goodnight didn’t live more than a few days max in prison. 

As they got closer to the rear of the building they heard sounds coming from a room off to the left. There was yelling, mostly from Alecta.

“Please, let her be alright.” Rossi said a quick prayer.

“You know, I was after you all along. I guess you could say you were the one that got away.”

“So you really only killed those other women for shits and giggles?”

“No, no, no. They had to die to. They had forgotten their place. They had to learn. And when I realized that Retta had been a friend of yours….oh, that was an added bonus. I had great fun with her. I sent you the   
video and the photos. Did you enjoy them as much as I did? Of course I sent them to your former address on purpose. After I was sure the FBI had been called in, I had to arrange some way that Fletcher would be able to see you again. I must admit, you’re more fun than the others, you’re so much more of a challenge.”

“Why don’t you come a little bit closer and I can show you how much of a challenge I can be.”

“How cute. No thank you. I’ve heard the stories. Although I will say that jab that you took at me in the hotel room….that was a bit of genius on your part, getting your team all worked up, in such a tizzy to see who the blood belonged to; to make sure if there was any way that you were injured or dead.”

“Why do you think that those women forgot their places?”

“Well they did. Most of them took the vows you know. Love, honor, and obey….it doesn’t say anywhere in the entire ceremony ‘Only when it’s convenient.’ Their husbands and boyfriends were only trying to teach them what was expected of them. If they hadn’t been so difficult to deal with, the lessons would never have gotten out of hand.”

“Is that what you thought all those times with your daddy? That your mother was just an ignorant woman that didn’t know her place…that she had to learn the hard way? How many years did she take the beatings off of your father? How many of the beatings did she take so you and Nathan wouldn’t have to?”

That hit a nerve. 

“You bitch! You are never to speak of her. She was a whore, like all the rest. Just like you. Daddy had his hands full with her. He taught us that women needed to be controlled at ALL times…they were not to be   
trusted.”

During his tirade he had come closer to the cage that he had her locked in, forgetting her earlier attempts to get him to drop his guard. He had grabbed her by the throat between the bars of the cage, causing her to gasp for breath. 

“Davis!” Morgan yelled out.

Her gasping and struggling was loud enough that it made the team move a bit faster to free her from her prison. As they came closer to the door way of the room they began to file in slowly, at least it seemed to each of them. Although they tried to be as silent as possible, there was some sound coming from their footsteps that lead to Mark Goodnight taking his mind off of his task of strangling Alecta. As soon as there was a moment’s break in his concentration, Alecta grabbed him by his ears, shoving his face away from the cage and then bringing it back with force, causing him to smack the corner of his forehead into a couple of the bars. He hit the bars quite hard, this caused him to be knocked unconscious; at this point Alecta merely dropped his carcass to the floor. As he hit the floor she got down on one knee and reached through the bars rifling through the pockets she could reach. She was looking for the key to the hatch on top of the cage; finding them, she placed the keys in her mouth and began crawling up the side of the cage while her team worked on getting Mark Goodnight into handcuffs and get him properly under arrest. As they turned back around from handing Goodnight off to the locals they saw her dangling upside down from the top of the cage rummaging through the keys to find the right one, which she came across soon enough with a squeak of triumph. She sat up holding on with one hand and reached through the bars and unlocked the hatch. Once the hatch was open she sat up and scooted through the opening and sat up, smiling. She slid over to the edge of the huge cage and began climbing down. Upon getting closer to the bottom she stopped and just sort of hung there.

“Oh baby, don’t tell me you’re suddenly scared of heights.”

“Honey, eat your heart out. Can you help me down though? That bastard broke my ankle, and I can’t put too much more weight on it.”

“Morgan, get her down.”

“Come on. I got you.” Morgan reached up to pull her off the bars of the cage.

“You know, when I said that you’d be screaming my name later….ow….take it easy coco puffs, I’m damaged merchandise. When I said that you’d be screaming my name later this isn’t what I had in mind.”

Chuckling at her and shaking his head, Morgan bit, “What was?”

“I can tell you this; it wouldn’t be in front of an audience but, it would be out of ecstasy.”

If it anyone had bothered to look closely, they would have seen Hotch’s and Rossi’s shoulders shaking in quiet laughter.

“You couldn’t wait a few more seconds for us to bail you out?”

“Sorry old man, my roommate was starting to smell to high heavens.”

Looking beyond Alecta they noticed that there was a decomposing body in the cage.

“Who might she be?”

“I have no idea. I checked her over briefly for tattoos. She’s not one of mine. And she isn’t one of the shelter women….damn! I almost forgot.” She made to get down out of Morgan’s arms.

“Sit still hard head.”

“But in one of the rooms upstairs…I have to get up there. Please we have to go get….” She kept trying to get down.

“Davis, your ankle is busted. Stay still.”

“Well then we have to get up there. And we have to do it now!”

Morgan turned and started heading up the stairs with her in his arms, if for any reason then just to keep her from injuring her ankle any further.

The rest of the team was behind him.

Once they were upstairs they went looking for the room in question. They heard a slight voice yelling. It sounded small and far away. 

“Quiet everybody.” Hotch gave the order to try to hear which direction and room that the voice was coming from.

“Down there, on the….right.” Alecta heard the voice again.

The team hurried down to the indicated room. Getting into the room, they saw a dead man’s body sprawled haphazardly on the ground. In one corner there was a woman huddled, shaking in fear. In a farther corner in the room in another cage was a little girl that Morgan recognized as the little girl, Jazzy from the women’s shelter.

“Lexa! Lexa! The bad people got mommy!”

“Yes baby and I made them go away,” this time Morgan couldn’t keep her from slipping down out of his arms to unlock the cage and let the little girl out, “I’m sorry it took too long.”

“But Lexa, you’re right on time…he didn’t make us get dead like that man. Lexa, why did he make that man get dead? That man was his friend.”

“What are you talking about sweet heart?”

“That’s the man that gave me your present; he’s the one that told me to make sure to give you that little box.”

“Are you sure baby?”

“Oh, why yes. How many times have I ever been wrong? You trained me to pay attention to hair color and eye color…and you taught me how to figure out how tall someone is. Mommy got….(the little girl saw the   
men in the room)…mommy’s sick. She couldn’t help me do it.”

“Jazzy, what do you remember about when the man got hurt?”

“Mr. agent, he didn’t get hurt. He got dead. I know the difference. I am four, I know stuff.”

“Please forgive me then.”

“Ok, only ‘cause Lexa is your friend. Well there had been two men in here arguing about mommy. They were arguing over how she might get….they were arguing over why she was sick and what to do next. The guy there was arguing with them about some stuff, I don’t know what for sure…but they made him get dead. And then the one taller man went away. The shorter man, he looked like the tall man, he made sure I was in my box and he went away, too. Lexa I didn’t know you was down there. I wouldn’t have let him go down after you.”

“No baby, I’m glad you did. He had the keys to the cage on him…I needed them to get out.”

“He didn’t make you get sick like they did mommy?”

The team saw Alecta stoop down on her knees and make eye contact with the little girl.

“No baby,” Alecta shook her head indicating the negative.

None of the other agents bought her answer. There was something in her eyes that made them silently question the validity of her answer to the little girl.

“Good.” The little girl threw her small arms around Alecta’s neck and hugged tight.

“Come on baby, go with my friend here,” JJ walked up to take the little girl downstairs.

“No. Lexa you’re my friend. I don’t know these…these people. I not go with them.”

“I want to check on your mommy and see how sick she is. And since you don’t know these people, you know your mommy doesn’t; but she’s sick. She needs to see a friend she does know right now; it might make   
her feel a little bit better, don’t you think?”

“Oh, ok. I’ll go. (Turning to JJ) Are you good people? Lexa always says to make sure.”

“Yes as a matter of fact I am.” JJ took out her badge and let the little girl hold it as she picked her up to carry her downstairs.

“You know Miss Lady you make me think of my barbies. I can braid your hair later?”

JJ gave a soft chuckle as they rounded the corner out of the room.

Alecta struggled to get to her feet, with Morgan helping her up, and hobbled over to her friend huddled in the corner.

“Monique. Monique. Talk to me.”

The woman only turned her head a bit and they watched her look Alecta in the eye. The woman had been crying.

“I had to stay quiet.” She was speaking barely above a whisper.

“I kept telling Jazzy to play the quiet game to make them think she was asleep. Or they would have made her watch. They tried to ‘wake’ her up once, but I made them stop. That’s how the argument started. They   
began to beat on me. But I had told Jazzy to keep her eyes shut as much as possible. And then they killed that man. He didn’t want them to do this in front of her. He wanted them to at least let her go. He had told me that if he could make them let her go, he would try to get me out while their backs were turned. Somehow, during the argument it came to light what he was planning. He argued that he didn’t sign on to kill these women. Apparently they had brought him in just in time to deliver your package. And they kept him on as a third set of eyes. But he became more trouble than he was worth and they just gutted him. Is Jazzy ok?”

“Yes. Let’s get outa here alright?”

Hotch and Rossi were going to help the woman up but she shrunk back from them. 

“Mo they have to help you, they’re with me. I can’t get us both out of here this time. Come on, we’ll take you to a hospital to get checked out. I’ll go with you.”

The woman nodded and allowed Hotch and Rossi to help her up; Hotch wrapped one of her arms around his neck to support her weight as they made their way out of the room. Morgan lifted Alecta back up into his arms, of course she complained that she wasn’t a total cripple and he ignored her, as he carried her back out of the room. 

“Do you think there are any others?” 

“No Hotch, I don’t think so. You might have some locals check through here, but Mo & Jazzy are the only ones that I heard for sure.”  
Hotch made sure that both women were put into an ambulance. Alecta argued over getting to go with Monique. When one of the EMT’s argued against it, she reached for Morgan’s gun and slammed it down on the gurney.

“Now, tell me NO again!”

At that, the rescue workers caved in and helped her into the ambulance.

“Well Rossi, your girl has a definite way about her.”

“She’s not my girl. She’s just a dear friend. I never had any kids of my own. I sort of adopted her if you will.”

“Morgan, I want you and Rossi working the interrogations.”

“Hotch!”

“Rossi?”

“With all due respect, Hotch, is that smart?”

“What’s your point, Prentiss?”

“Rossi and Morgan, on interrogations. Are you trying to save the tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars on purpose? If you let them run the interrogations, there won’t be enough of a carcass left for a trial.”

“Yeah, and Rossi knows ways of getting away with it.” Reid interjected quickly.

“Now you bust my chops kid? Really? I will have you know I can manage a respectable interrogation. I don’t have to lay one finger on the suspects. They’ll likely be dead within the four or five days tops. Smart money says they don’t make it out of holding.”

“Alright. Enough. Rossi, you’re still on for interrogations. Morgan, you’re coming with me to the hospital….”

“Hotch?”

“Emily, you’re with Rossi on the interrogations.”

“Hotch!”

“Morgan, come on.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Emily made a valid point. I need to make sure that you can keep your cool and not do any real damage to the suspects. I want any charges that they are hit with to stick, we don’t want them walking of prison   
because they ‘slipped and fell’.”

Morgan was livid. He wanted just five minutes with one of those guys. Even if there was a chance that Alecta got out of there unscathed, with the exception of the ankle injury, there was the fact that they had the   
nerve to bring that little girl into this. They had never harmed a child before, at least not in any crimes the team was aware of. The only reason that Jazzy had been involved this time was because they knew they could use her to get to Alecta. Odds are that was the only way that they had gotten her to come quietly at all, without anyone hearing much of anything. But the more he thought about it, he realized Hotch had a point. If he lost his temper, which he might have done, they would have walked on a technicality; and maybe, at some point in the future they would have done something like this again and would have gotten away with it for an even longer time than they had already.

Once at the hospital Hotch and Morgan checked on Alecta. She was getting a bandage put on a gash on her forehead and arguing with the nurse and the doctor about letting her see her friend. Upon seeing Hotch and Morgan come into the room, she calmed a bit, but not that much.

“I told you I would let you go see your friend as soon as I get this patch job in place. You need stitches on this to be quite honest.”

“Look old man I’ve survived having my head shoved through a window. This is nothing, now hurry up.”

“Lexa! Lemme go you…Lexa!”

Alecta shoved the doctor away before he could manage to affix the bandage to her forehead; she slid down off of the exam table and hobbled on her good ankle making her way closer to the door. She caught the   
little girl under the arms and lifted her up, groaning with the added pressure on her bad ankle.

“What’s wrong baby?”

“They won’t lemme see my mommy!”

“You know they won’t lemme see her either.”

“Is it a ‘spiracy?”

“We ought to ask this guy, he’s the doctor.” 

Both Alecta and Jazzy turned their gaze onto the doctor, each with a set of penetrating dark brown eyes that could unnerve you.

“Dr. man, my mommy’s sick and I wanna go see her; pease.”

“Say no to that Scrooge.”

With that Alecta turned and made her way down the hall to where she knew they had taken Monique. 

“Baby, how about you sit with my friends while I go check on your mommy?”

“But Lexa, I just wanna see my mommy!”

The little girl started bawling at that point. It had been a traumatic few days for her and she had finally reached her breaking point; although Hotch and Morgan had to admit she held out longer than most four year olds would have. And what was that Jazzy said earlier about training?

“My darling girl, I want you to see your mommy, too. But first I have to go make sure if she’s still sick or not; because if she is very sick, she may want to make sure that you don’t catch her cold. Understand?”

The little girl rubbed her nose and nodded in the affirmative.

“You promise to lemme see mommy?”

“I promise I will try. If the doctor says she’s too sick, or if mommy says she wants you to wait a little bit, you have to be a big girl some more ok?”

“Ok. I have to be a big girl and help mommy like before right.”

Alecta nodded. 

“Mr. agent,” Jazzy turned her teary eyed gaze on Morgan, “you can stay wif me? I don’t know the other agent man. And mommy and Lexa always says not to go wif strangers.”

“Of course I’ll stay with you.”

“Um-K. You know anyfing ‘bout coloring? ‘Cause I gots crayons, the good ones. Lexa always makes sure to keep me in a big box of Crayola’s; she says they smell the best. What’s that got to do wif it?”

Alecta shook her head as Hotch smiled while they turned to go in search of Monique. They could hear Morgan explaining that he wasn’t sure how much he knew about coloring, since it’d been a long time since he had to do it. He told the little girl that he had a friend that would love to teach her all about coloring. And immediately a picture of Garcia wearing every color in the rainbow popped into both of their heads; Alecta couldn’t help the brief chuckle that escaped her.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing much. Just remind me to thank Garcia really well when we see her again.”

Hotch agreed and they stepped into the room where Monique had been taken to. She was relaxing on an examination table. She seemed fairly panicked.

“They say they have to do a….” seeing Hotch there, she broke off the sentence.

“Yeah, they have to make sure, and if they can gather enough evidence about what happened to you, they can add it to the charges against them.”

“Well if they go away for murder, and we know they were involved, then why? Why Lex? Why do I have to do this?”

The woman was crying nearly as hard as Jazzy had been earlier. 

“Well; you and I both know they were involved we know that. And they have DNA evidence from the previous murders that can be linked to them. But since you’re the only survivor, they want to make sure that they   
can provide another link to the case just on the off chance that it’s called into question in court. We just all want to make sure they are buried under the jail and this will help. If you want me to, I can sit with you for the thing.”

“But you need to set your ankle. Go get it set, I’ll be alright.”

“No. You sat with me before; it’s time I returned the favor.”

Hotch stepped back out of the room when it was made obvious what was about to go down; he thought that under the circumstances, he didn’t want to make either woman any more uncomfortable than they   
would already be. After what seemed like forever he was approached by a nurse that said that the exam was over and that all findings were going to be forwarded immediately to the forensics lab.   
Alecta came out and discussed everything with Hotch and Morgan; it was now apparent that the young woman had been sexually assaulted, not that they really needed the exam to clear that up. They noticed Alecta really favoring that ankle even more than before. 

“Get that set already; that’s an order.”

“Fine.”

“And I want you to have an exam as well. Your friend in there isn’t the only survivor that we found.”

“No. I don’t think that it is necessary.”

“You were sexually assaulted; you need to have the exam run. You need it run for the exact same reason that you gave to that woman in there.”

“I’m not going to do it.”

“I am not afraid to place you on suspension if you argue with me.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Push me. Why are you being so stubborn?”

“Look….This isn’t the first time it’s happened; and in my line of work it won’t likely be the last time. I don’t think I need an exam every single time it happens to tell me what exactly happened to me. I was there. I   
never forget them.”

Hotch carefully pulled her by the arm back into the examination room and set her gently on the table he flagged down a nurse and told her to let a doctor know that they would be needing another exam run.

A doctor came in to perform the exam and Hotch was asked to wait out in the waiting room of course.

Hotch sat down in a chair that was near Morgan and Jazzy and tried to concentrate on their banter. Just as he was about to succeed in clearing his mind somewhat there was a commotion in the examination room.   
Morgan grabbed the kid, handing her off to a nurse and ran with Hotch to the room in question. The doctor was on the floor and Alecta had backed into the corner of the room opposite of the door and was standing there with a scalpel in her hands; she was shaking, she was wrapped in one of the hospital gowns, and she was shaking badly.

“Davis?”

“Please don’t make me do this.” Her voice sounded nearly as fragile as Monique’s had when they first found her in the warehouse.

“Davis, we have to….”

“Please. I’ll do anything just don’t make me do this.”

Morgan helped the doctor up. He allowed the man to leave the room. Stepping out into the hall himself, Morgan made a call to Rossi. If anyone might now why she was reacting so badly it would be him.

He was only on the phone for a matter of about five minutes trying to get information from Rossi that might help them talk to her a little bit; the whole time he was gone from the room, Alecta never lowered the scalpel from being pointed at Hotch.

“Hotch, come here for a second.”

Carefully, Hotch stepped out into the hallway to hear what Morgan had to say. Apparently, back when she had worked that under-cover operation, one of the men in charge of the trafficking ring that was under the microscope had been a former doctor. It was said that he performed all sorts of ‘experiments’ on some of the women and girls that were being held by them. Rossi wouldn’t elaborate further than that; as a matter of fact he flat out refused to say more and hung up on Morgan when he pressed a little harder on the issue. Hotch made a mental note to have a talk with Rossi when they got back to Quantico.   
Hotch finally conceded that they were going to get nowhere on the rape exam they needed to have performed on Alecta. Not only was she not cooperating, but after her little outburst, you’d be hard pressed to find a doctor with enough spine to have his or her dares to go into that room.

Over the next day or so Monique was kept in the hospital for observation and a psych eval just to make sure that she was recovering properly. Monique had made arrangements with Alecta to take Jazzy back to Quantico with her for a while. Monique herself had decided to see a psychiatrist for a while, at least until she got a better hold on her feelings after what happened; she didn’t really want Jazzy to see how badly she might cope with things, the little girl had seen enough in the past few days.

Once everyone was back at the police department the team discussed with Det. Rocha just what would happen to the suspects while they awaited arraignment; they were also packing any paper work and other gear that they would need to take with them as they left.

“Hotch, before we leave Los Angeles, can we stop by the Tea Room? I have to see an old friend, there’s something I have to do. I’ll make it as brief as I can. We can have lunch there, I think everyone will enjoy it.”

“Since, you put it that way, sure. I think we could all do with a decent meal.”

A faint smile passed Alecta’s lips as she nodded at Hotch’s agreement. She turned to check her go bag and make sure she had everything she would need for the time being.

The ride to the Tea Room didn’t take very long at all. They got out of the SUVs accompanied by Det. Rocha and made their way to the front door. There they were greeted by one of the largest men that most of them had ever seen. He had to be over 6’6” and he was very well built, he seemed to stay in shape; it seems he took his job as a gargoyle very seriously.

“What is your business?” the statue at the door asked with a thick eastern European accent.

“Now, Istvan, is that anyway to speak to an old friend?” Alecta answered without the slightest hesitation.

“Perhaps if old friends would make themselves available more often….”

“Give me a hug; I’ve missed them.”

Quickly enough she was wrapped in a near bone crushing bear hug, one that she tried in vain to return.

“The old man waits for you inside, lunch will not be long in coming. Who are these people?”

“New friends.” Alecta winked at Istvan as he shook his head.

Alecta and her team, along with Rocha and Jazzy, made their way inside. The décor was something to see; dark, cherry paneled walls, highly decorative crown moldings. There were carvings in some of the wooden panels every few feet, they all were carefully cleaned by someone so that they were as beautiful as possible; although some of the carvings were quite garish, they were still lovely in their way. The tables were set with embroidered silk table cloths. Some of the seating was in a booth style; the booths were for larger parties such as theirs, they were rounded, so everyone at the table could partake in the conversation, and so that everyone had equal footing.

There was a large old man sitting at a lone table a few feet away. He looked like he was very nearly the same size as the man guarding the door. Alecta walked up to the old man from behind and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“My dearest friend….”

“Yasmina, you came.” He stood then and wrapped her into another bone crushing hug and stroked her hair. “My child I am so happy to see you. Come we must eat, you are getting entirely too thin. My dearest Mina, come, bring your friends. I have a surprise for you.” he gave a signal to one of the servers on his staff.

They all piled in around one of the booths; Jazzy took up a seat right next to Alecta, no surprise. Several servers began bringing out dishes sorts of dishes full of Russian food. And the final piece was two pitchers;   
one of which was filled with Rakia and a smaller one that was filled with Attar of Roses. 

“Score! I haven’t had Attar in forever. Oh where are my manners. Impatiev, this is my FBI team; SSA’s Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, Derek Morgan, Emily Prentiss, Dr. Reid, and JJ---she works as their media liaison as well. And guys, this is one of my oldest and dearest friends, Impatiev.”

“I remember hearing you say how much you loved it. And Rakia, too. A…mutual friend….sent them. I am happy to meet people that she thinks so highly of; there aren’t that many. Rossi, is that...”

“Yes,” was her only reply; with the tone of her voice and the look in her eye, Impatiev knew to leave it at that.

They ate like kings, nothing was spared.

“Why do you call her Yasmina or Mina?” Reid was awfully curious.

“When I was a boy living in small village in Russia, I had a sister named Yasmina. She was a bit older than me. She helped my mother take care of the younger children while she did some of the house work. She   
was a wonderful sister. She told us all sorts of stories, whatever we wanted. Around the time I was about eight or 10 years old, there were some clashes with some neighboring villages. I was too young to understand why they were fighting; I only knew that they were. It grew into a bit of an occupation really. One day while I was playing outside with Mina, part of the opposing militia was walking about. They kept coming closer; Mina told me to run and hide. One of the men grabbed her,” his voice became strained, “when she told me to hide, I did as she told me. From where I was hiding though I could see much of what happened. Soon it all became too much, I shut my eyes; but I could still hear my dear sister screaming. Then as suddenly as it happened, it was over. Mina was silent, the men were gone, the field where we had been growing a few crops was burned to the ground; without some sort of miracle we would likely go hungry by winter. Mina was still alive when I went to her, but she did not speak. She never spoke again. Mama had some help bringing her into the house. She stayed up with her for days. I had never seen my mother so sad. I only understood as much as a child’s mind would allow me to. After about three days, Mina passed away; I don’t know if she died from any specific injury, or if she just willed herself to die because of the memory of what happened. I have never learned this. This all happened around about 70 years ago. My dearest here, she reminds me of my sister so much. She has the same hair and eyes, the same smile; they were about the same size, everything so similar. I gave one of my best men the duty of keeping her safe. I could not lose my darling Mina twice; I don’t think my heart could have stood for it.”

“He gave me this,” with misty eyes Alecta showed them a medallion that many of them had often wondered about since meeting her. Jazzy stayed quietly eating her meal listening to the older people talk.

“It has been in my family for so many generations, I could not tell you how long. I know it belonged to my great-grandmother, grandmother, mother…Mama had intended to give it to Mina, but she did not live. And I have no children of my own, so I give it to her.”

“It’s a St. Agnes medallion.” Reid again states the obvious.

“Yes, very good young man. Yes. Agnes, she carries her lantern with her, the lamb following on her heels. St. Agnes is said to be the light in your darkest hours; she will lead you.”

“For them to have this medallion means that….”

“Yes, young Dr. Reid, it is as you imagine. Life was hard for us in those days and in the time of my grandparents and so on. Some people weren’t quite as civilized as they are now.”

After they ate for a bit they sat around and talked of a great many things for a while. It was getting closer to time to leave and Alecta said something to Impatiev in Russian. 

“What did she say?” Hotch asked Prentiss.

“She asked where the children were.”

Alecta made her way out of the booth and stood waiting.

“What’s going on Davis?”

“Hotch you remember when I said there was something I needed to do?” she saw him nod in recognition, “Well this is it.”

Within moments two tiny girls about the same age as Jazzy came bounding into the room at the speed of light making a mad dash for Alecta who looked ready to scoop them up.

“MOMMY!” both girls squealed in utter excitement.


	8. Who Are You? Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morgan takes Alecta and the girls home and meets one of Alecta's close friends.

“MOMMY!!” 

The two little girls came barreling down the stairs heading straight for Alecta who caught them and scooped them both up as best she could squeezing them in tight hugs.

Over at the table Morgan leaned in and whispered at Hotch asking him if he knew she had kids.

“It wasn’t in her file. I had no clue.”

“Garcia.” Reid spoke the thought out loud.

“Come again,” Prentiss wanted him to finish the thought.

“Well think about it carefully. Garcia can hack nearly everything man made right. And who else would you get to hide information like the fact that you’ve ever had children? If this had been handled solely by the bureau, there would still be evidence that they were hiding something from us. The fact that none of it showed up in her records, that smells like a favor from Garcia.”

“Pretty boy has a point. Rossi?” 

“Don’t even start.”

“Dave, you knew she had them.”

“Seriously, we’re going to do this here?”

“Rossi, what do you know?”

As soon as Prentiss asked the question though the conversation was broken up when Alecta came back over to the table carrying both twins, one on each hip; Sofie was twirling one of Alecta’s curls around her fingers discussing what she had learned during ‘pee-nano’ lessons that week, Emma, her sister was stroking the Agnes medallion around her neck chirping about the violin that she had just received. They were identical, completely identical, and exact miniature replicas of Alecta. Each girl had her big, chocolate brown eyes and her thick mane of golden/ash brown hair; they had their mother’s dimples and tiny frame. They were two of the most adorable little girls you could ever have imagined. They looked like they should have been on a Victorian greeting card.

“If ya’ll wanna know something, why don’t you just ask me? Give the old man a rest will ya.”

“We’re just shocked; we didn’t know you had any kids.”

“Rossi did know. A few months back when I decided to try again to leave my…to leave Fletcher, I had copies of all the legal paper work-----divorce documents, restraining orders, medical records----sent to Rossi   
as well as a few other choice people. If Fletcher had been successful in….if I had died in the end, I wanted everyone to know who the first suspect should be. I wanted there to be no confusion. And I included information about the girls that way they would ultimately be provided for. I had them in Istanbul in secret. I’ve kept them hidden here from him ever since I was able to bring them into the states. All he knows about my visits here is that I come to see Impatiev and Sergei. If there’s ever any question about the children, he has been told they are some of my nieces from Russia. They are fluent in it anyway, and Fletcher has been ignorant enough to buy the excuse.”

She paused for a moment getting seated and adjusting the girls on her lap, Sofie saw Jazzy and started talking to her immediately….apparently the little girls knew each other very well. Before Alecta started to speak again everyone could tell she was suddenly nervous.

“You’re not going to tell him about the girls are you?”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“Sir! Please don’t. Please….” She looked like she was going to cry at any moment.

“I didn’t say that I would tell him. You can call me Hotch.”

The tears started streaking down her face silently, “You don’t know what he did to me,’ she practically hissed through her teeth, ‘please don’t tell him…All those years…I just can’t let my children be brought up by   
someone like that. If he finds out about them, he’ll try to take me to court and get custody. He’d try to use my work with the Agnes’s to show that I’m an unfit mother. Granted I have a lot of friends that wear the robe. But….he has always won before.”

Sounding so helpless she scooted the kids off her lap and got back up out of the booth and walked away.

“Are you happy now? She’s going to panic at least until we get back to Quantico and away from him about the safety of those kids. Good job.”

After the admonishment from Rossi, Hotch got up and went searching for Alecta. He couldn’t find her.

“She’s out back,” Impatiev informed him with a nod.

Hotch made his way through the kitchen to the back door; she was sitting on the fire escape. 

As Hotch made his way to sit by her, he could hear her sobbing her eyes out. She was sitting on the floor of the fire escape with her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, with her face buried.

Sitting down next to her and touching her shoulder, “I won’t tell him, I swear I won’t; but, what about Strauss and the director?”

“The director is a friend of mine actually,” she sat up sniffing, wiping face a bit, ’he’s got my back. Strauss won’t be able to start too much trouble. If she does, she’s fired.”

Hotch reached up to help her wipe some of the tears off of her face and shook his head with a chuckle.

“But that still won’t stop Him from trying something if he finds out.”

“Then we have to make sure he doesn’t find out, at least not from one of us. You’re going to have to talk about it to someone.”

“Talk about what?”

“The whole Fletcher thing, your marriage, what happened there.”

“No. No. Hell no. I don’t have to do any such thing. Why can’t we just drop it? It’s over, the divorce is coming down the pipeline, I’ve got my kids. The rest is just….history. Let sleeping dogs lie.”

“How does Rossi know so much?”

“Well, when I decided to try to make another run for it and divorce Fletcher, I sent copies of all the necessary documents to several people; Rossi was one of them. The others are other friends I’ve made over the   
years or professional acquaintances that I felt were important to me.”

“What documents?”

“Copies of the divorce papers, copies of the restraining orders….medical records. I’ve had so many bones broken. Three miscarriages, maybe four. That’s why I had to hide this last pregnancy.”

They sat out there looking around in silence for a while until Hotch broke it up by announcing that they should go in and get ready to leave. Alecta nodded in agreement. As far as she was concerned, she couldn’t get far enough away from Los Angeles. It was a great town, just horrible memories.

Going back into the Tea Room, she noticed that her daughters were already packed and ready to go; Ilyana had helped them each get a small bag together and they were sitting with Sergei and Impatiev just   
chattering away in Russian; it’s likely they were planning for their next visit.

Neither Alecta nor her daughters were sad to be leaving. Alecta knew that Impatiev and Sergei would come out to Quantico for a visit sometime…or under the right set of circumstances she could always come back to them for a few days. And Sofie and Emma were just tickled pink that they would get to go home with Mommy and they’d have their own room and their own toys. This was an adventure for them, that’s all that mattered to them.

The good-byes were said and the team, with three four year old girls scampering along, made their way out to the SUV’s to drive out to the airstrip. Getting on the jet, Alecta and the girls took the bench seat and Sofie quickly came to worship Reid and his physics magic. Emma was sort of tired, it had been an exhausting day for her, and for Jazzy as well. Both of the little girls were quite worn out. Alecta lay down on the bench seat and Emma rested her little head against her mother’s chest, wedging herself a bit between Alecta and the back of the seat. Jazzy curled up with them. Alecta wound up dozing about the same time. After about 10 more minutes, Sofie had grown quite tired as well and curled up asleep at the other end of the bench. She was cute; her little left arm bent at the elbow, cushioning her head. She was sucking on her right thumb, and a little of her hair had tumbled across her face from when she tried to get comfortable, her dark eye lashes were casting small shadows on her chubby cheeks. For just a moment the team imagined that she must look almost identical to Alecta at four; how tiny she was. And then they looked to the grown version. What had gone so wrong in life that this is where she ended up? How had Alecta gone from a bubbly toddler to….this; escaping her estranged husband with barely more than the clothes on her back, having to live separate from her children for their safe keeping?   
It was somewhat cool on the jet. The three girls had light little cardigans on, just in case, as well as their favorite blankies that they had with them; but Alecta hadn’t been able to get to her blanket to keep warm. 

Noticing how her finger tips were getting a slight blue/purple tinge to them, Rossi stood up and draped his jacket over Alecta and the two small girls that were resting with her. Hotch draped his jacket over Sophie, just in case she was still too cool to be comfortable.

Within a few hours they were about to land, back in Quantico, and Morgan shook Alecta’s shoulder gently to wake her and have her get prepared for landing. 

Everyone filed into the Federal Building; Alecta had already given the little girls the speech about behaving themselves because they were going into where she worked and it was rude to disrupt the other agents that were trying to figure out how to save lives. All three seemed to understand completely. Alecta lead the three girls into the conference room and they sat quietly while she dug out snacks and juice for all three of them. After a quick debriefing, Hotch sent the team home with instructions to be off for the next few days. This case wasn’t that stressful, no more so than any others, but he knew that Alecta could use the time to get the kids settled in better; and if he gave only her the time off, she might object to the special treatment.

“Davis, do you and the kids need a ride home?”

“I was just going to call a taxi. It’s no big deal.”

“I’ll take you.”

The look Morgan gave her halted any further arguments.

“Fine,’ she was really too tired to argue much anyway, ‘girls, come on. Agent Morgan is going to help us get home.”

“M’kay mommy. C’mon Emma; Jazzy, get your bag. Mommy’s takin’ us home wiff’er.” 

Sofie grabbed her bag and started to take off for the door to the conference room like a bolt of lightning.

“Sofie, stop running. What did I tell you? No running in the office, people are trying to do work here.”

The little girl stopped running immediately and turned to her mother smiling softly, “Sorry mommy.”

The next second she ran over and grabbed Derek’s hand to drag him out of the conference room.

“C’mon Agent man, you gotta take me at Mommy’s house. Hurry.”

Hotch and Rossi couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the little girl’s urgency.

Once they were all settled in Derek’s SUV Alecta decided to ask Sofie what was going on.

“Didn’t you like staying with Impatiev?”

“Oh, yes, Mommy. Yes. But we wanna stay wiff you now.”

“Emma?”

“Yes mommy?”

“You’re being awful quiet.”

“So is Jazzy.”

“Well Jazzy has had a rough couple of days. I think maybe she’s tired, and has a lot to think about. What cat has your tongue?”

“It’s noffin mommy.”

“Emma…”

“Is daddy one of the bad people? Is that why you made us live wiff Impatiev, and why you got us now?”

Alecta had to think carefully. Sofie was the more dramatic of the two girls. But what Emma lacked in dramatics she made up for in deep thoughts. Sofie was action, Emma was careful examination. Alecta knew that the truth was the best way to go. Her daughters were almost four. But they weren’t stupid.

“Yes baby. He is one of the bad people.”

“What makes him one of the bad people mommy?”

“He wasn’t a nice man Em.”

“Mommy, you make me tell you; your turn.”

Morgan chuckled from his spot from behind the wheel.

Glaring at him, “It seems that some of my best efforts are coming back to bite me in the ass.”

“Ooh, mommy said a swear word. Does that mean you’re in trouble mommy?”

“Sofie, you’re not helping. And no, I’m not in trouble.”

“Why? If we say a swear word we get in trouble.”

“I’m a grown up. “

“And? What’s that s’pose a mean? Mommy, a swear word is a swear word.”

Derek almost had to pull over for laughing so hard; he very nearly had tears rolling down his cheeks. This woman was a force to be reckoned with and yet her toddler daughters were giving her the business.

“Ok, you’re right. Grown-ups aren’t supposed to say swear words either. But, sometimes grown-ups can say a swear word and it’s ok, as long as they don’t say a lot of them all the time. One bad word is ok; but,   
like, 10 are too many.”

“Ok. Now that that we figured that out…Mommy, why is daddy one of the bad people? What he do?”

“Of course Emma has a one track mind,’ mumbling to herself.

“Mommy….” Emma’s chant of this word was high pitched, almost in a sing song way, “I’m waiting.”

More chuckling could be heard from Derek Morgan, and that earned him another glare from Alecta.

“Oh alright. Daddy is one of the bad people because…he made mommy feel bad.”

Suddenly Sofie was interested in this line of conversation.

“How mommy, why’sat make him one of the bad people?”

“Well, you know how Jazzy’s daddy made her mommy feel bad?”

“Yes mommy. He was a very bad man.”

“Well your daddy was a very bad man like that.”

“No! For real mommy. Ooh! We coulda made him pay, all you hadda do was say so.”

Turning to the girls, “No. I won’t have you going near him. You stay away from daddy. When you’re older and can make your own decisions, things will be different. But for now, pretty please, just don’t mess with   
this; please.”

Derek heard the urgency in her voice, and the girls must have sensed it too because they answered in unison.

“Yes mommy.”

“Mommy?”

“Yes, Emma?”

“You’re not gonna be sad anymore, right?”

“Of course not Emma. We gets to go home wiff her, and daddy don’t gets to come. We can do girl stuff now, like…”

“Paint rainbow nails. Mommy, we can paint rainbow nails? And coloring, lots of coloring, mommy.”

“Whatever you want to do, we can do, as long as I’m not working.”

Three voices, ‘YES!!!!”

“Ok, now calm down a little bit. We’re almost there. Make a left up here, and stop once you turn into the drive.”

Doing as he was told, he watched as Alecta retrieved a remote of sorts and mashed a button on it. Next thing he noticed a huge steel gate opened up.

“Pull through, and then at the curve in the drive, kind of veer to the right a bit, and it will curve around. You can park there.”

“Sure thing sweet heart.”

Alecta gave him a strange look, trying to figure out where the nickname was coming from.

As Derek pulled around the drive as she had told him to do he saw a large brick building, it looked like an old warehouse. He wondered what she was thinking. He stopped the SUV, and Alecta started to get out to   
get the girls unbuckled.

“You can come in for a little while if you would like. We don’t bite. Well, I don’t, unless you’re into that sort of thing. But my girls, I can’t make any promises.”

“Ok. I can come in and look around, make sure everything is all quiet.” Derek let off a little chuckle.

“If you want to have a bite to eat, we can handle that, too. Right, girls.”

“Ooh, Mommy, Vindaloo? Or…ooh! Mommy we can we do Greek?”

“Why don’t we wait and see what the Agent man says. Since he was nice enough to bring us home, don’t you think that he should have choice?”

As Derek came into the front entrance behind Alecta and her girls, he had to admire what she had done to the place. It still had a very industrial vibe, but it also had gained a lived in quality. The concrete floors   
were polished; the kitchen and living room area was wide open. You weren’t able to see the kitchen space until after you came through the front entry hall. It took up a whole wall as you came past. There was an island across from the main kitchen wall, with bar stools around the bar of the island to eat at. There was a dining area off to one side. The living room was farther into the room. There was an oversized sectional that was facing the kitchen, sitting in the middle of the living space, a few odd shaped occasional chairs for spunk. Behind the sectional there was a brick wall that had huge factory sized windows from floor to ceiling, some of which were actually turned into French doors every few feet. On some of the brick walls there were pictures hung and lit to accent them. There was a huge cabinet with glass front doors that had lights inside of it with various medallions that looked like hers hanging in it. On some of the shelves there were a few photos of people that he, of course, didn’t recognize. The lower half of the cabinet had solid wood doors; goodness only knows what was behind the doors. The idea of the doors hiding something was quickly turning him into a 6 year old; he wanted to know so badly. 

“Come on he-man, you want to check upstairs while the girls put their things in their room?”

They walked back towards the front entry to go up the industrial style stair case. Of course the girls were chattering the whole way up the stairs. Of course Derek did the surveillance thing that he said he would do.   
Everything was fine of course, but he felt better.

The girls decided to stay upstairs and play once they got to their room. Alecta led Derek back downstairs; he sat on one of the bar stools that were on the far side of the island and watched her cook. She picked up   
a phone and texted someone something.

“You really don’t have to be so over protective. It’s cute, but unnecessary.”

“Yeah well, you can never be too sure sometimes.”

About that time there was voice coming into the room, it was deep, and the language was foreign to Derek. 

“Well as you can see, we are good on protection.”

As the man rounded the corner, Derek came face to face with the largest human being that he had ever seen, besides Alecta’s brother-in-law, Sergei. The man was 7’2-7’4, and he had to be somewhere between   
300-350lbs of mostly muscles. He was as solid as a rock. He was dressed in a suit of his native country. India? There was a decorated turban atop the man’s head. As Derek thought it through, it became obvious   
that the man had been speaking his native language.

“Punjab,’ Alecta had sensed the questions in Derek’s gaze. “And he isn’t all we have, there are others. But you won’t see them until you need them. Kong, say hello to our guest.”


	9. Who Are You? Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morgan has dinner at Alecta's and meets some more of her other friends. Alecta describes (without revealing a lot of details) how she crossed paths with Garcia.

The man uttered a heavily accented ‘hello’ and bent at the waist slightly in a courteous bow. Alecta said a few more words to him, most likely about what security measures would need to be in place now, with the children there, and to invite him to have a meal with them. The man, Kong as she called him, made to argue with her, saying that he would be fine taking his meal as he always did. But she arched a brow at him, at which he retracted his statement, agreeing that, just this once perhaps it was alright to join them.

“And call some of the others and tell them to come. They might as well get to know some of my new friends as well.”

Kong took out a cell phone and pushed a button or two and soon got an answer. He was talking for a while to whoever had answered.

 

“Give me the phone,’ Alecta waited for Kong to pass it over. The man was so damn big compared to Alecta, Derek just couldn’t wrap his brain around the size difference. Before long he heard Alecta speaking at   
break-neck speed in Punjab again into the phone. 

“So are they in trouble,’ Derek asked Kong.

“No. She is just telling them never to argue with me again.” After finishing his statement Kong gave Derek a self-satisfied smile. He must be somebody very near and dear to Alecta if he felt so smug.

“Well the others will be here shortly. And we are having Vindaloo. I’m making some a little spicier for some of you, but I’m taking some out for me and the girls with less spice.”

“Ah, but you loved my Vindaloo.”

“Your Vindaloo, yes. But you nearly killed me with the ‘Phall’ dish that you made….. Asshole.”

“What’s with the ‘Phall’ dish?”

“Have you ever had a Vindaloo dish with the ‘Phall’?,’ seeing Derek shake his head in the negative. “Imagine that you just ate a Roman Candle.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. I felt my throat swelling shut, and my eyes wouldn’t stop watering. I seriously thought I was going to die.”

Kong was laughing. “You said you wanted to try it.”

“You could have warned a sister….jeeze.”

Kong was doubled over in laughter by the time that the other ‘guests’ arrived.

There were several men as well as seven women. The young women stepped into the kitchen and began helping almost immediately to get the meal ready. One was chopping up vegetables; another was chopping   
up the meat that was to go into the dish. One young woman was getting the various sauces and spices that were going to be used. Another woman began setting the table with dishes while yet another was setting   
out drink cups. A sixth woman was mixing a beverage that, from Derek’s experience in the Tea Room, looked like Rakiya. The men sat and began making small talk, or at least that’s what it sounded like to Derek, not that he could understand a word of it. A seventh young woman had gone upstairs to check on the girls as well as to usher some of the other children that had arrived with the group up to meet the new arrivals.

Alecta had not been allowed to do much as far as preparation was concerned seeing that she was on crutches with a broken ankle. Of course she argued, her ankle was broken, she wasn’t dead. But the young   
women would have none of it, and once Kong stuck his two cents into the conversation, Alecta was relegated to the sidelines.  
Derek was admiring a painting hanging on one far wall of the great room. It seemed very old, but the colors were so outstanding.

“I see she has caught your eye.” 

Derek turned slightly to his right and saw Alecta standing there, crutches and all.

“It’s a Renaissance piece, from the 1490’s I think. She’s the original ‘Red Lady’.”

The painting was of a dark haired woman in classical Greco-Roman style of dress, her hair in a style that would have been popular during the days of the Empire. Her simple costume was a vibrant screaming red.   
Her eyes were quite big and a dark brown in color, they were quite piercing actually. She was really lovely. Her figure was only partially turned to the eyes of the admirer of the work as if she was in the midst of   
doing something important but had taken a moment to say a few words. She looked for all the world as if she would open her mouth and begin speaking any moment.

“Where did you get it?”

“Uh. There was this guy I knew…actually we were engaged, ages ago. He’d come across it on some of his travels.”

“What’s her story?”

“I’m not sure. But he told me that it made him think of me a little bit. Green is my favorite color; well green and purple. But I wear a lot of red. And I guess through the eyes and stuff, we have some similarities. The   
wearing red thing is what got me my nickname that Wolf used that night at the club; you remember when he called me Red?”

“What happened to the guy that gave this to you?”

“He died during a cave in. I’ve never parted with this painting. It’s one of the last things he gave me. And do you see the lantern in her hand and pay attention to the field behind her as well….”

“Sheep?”

“Yes. And if you know anything at all about your patron saints, Saint Agnes is typically depicted carrying a lantern or with light surrounding her in the work, and usually there is a lamb walking by her side or being   
carried by her. I don’t want to say 100% that this is a depiction of her. But I always have found it ironic. Come, sit. These damned crutches will be the death of me one day.”

They went over and took their seats on the large sofa. Derek helped her take a seat.

“You know, I haven’t even introduced you to the people around you. Gah, I’m so rude.”

“I figured you would get around to it eventually.”

“Ok.The red head is Theo. The two blondes are Oona and Immogene. Oona took the kids upstairs. The girl speaking French, we call her Cossette, that isn’t her real name of course. Then, Ivory is the Japanese   
woman. Zaheer is the Egyptian girl there, and Lakshmi is the Hindi girl. The Lucky Seven.”

Each woman had turned and given a slight bow of their head as they were mentioned.

“And the men?”

“Well you’ve met Kong. MacGeorge, as I call him---sitting over there in my chair----is actually named Angus; he’s the brother of the guy who gave me that painting. He went on to become a doctor, when the   
situation calls for it. Think ‘mob’ doctor except that he would never actually kill you. Cho, to his left….some of the others haven’t come. Oh well, they don’t get Vindaloo I guess.”

“Mama, we had to leave somebody manning the security booth.” Oona stated coming back down the stairs.

“Yes, Oona, I know. Anyway, when is dinner going to be already? I’m starving.”

“You are always hungry. What else is new?”

Alecta stuck her tongue out at Lakshmi for that one.

“What do they call you?”

“I have been called a great many things. Red, Angel…”

“The Devil. Shiva.”

“True. All very true.”

“Why Shiva?”

“Shiva is the destroyer. And there was this one time that mama leveled nearly half a city block.”

“Dude, it was one time. Ivory had mixed the explosives. The suspect survived with only a few minor injuries, and I only did a week in county.”

Morgan gave her a look of surprise.

“You’re shocked by this?”

“Well, yes. You’re in the FBI and you’ve done a week in county for a bombing.”

“What shocks you more, the facts as you know them, or the fact that it was only a week in county?”

“Well both actually.”

“Oh darling; what do you expect from somebody that spent months in the funny farm?”

Alecta just chuckled devilishly at Morgan as she took a drag off the beer that Mac had brought her. Then she chose to explain to Morgan what had led up to the incident.

“There was a case about a pedophile that had links to some bigger fish; he had been released on bond as part of a plea agreement that he made. We had decent intel that he was about to take off. If he had skipped   
town, not only would he squelch on the deal he made to save his own ass, but also it would wreck the larger investigation that was working to bring down a kiddy porn ring. I couldn’t let that happen. Besides, Ivory   
is the chemical engineering major in the group.”

“Seriously? We’re beating that horse again. It was one time. I put a little too much sulfur in with the…”

“Hahahahaha…”

“My dear Immogene, pray tell. What’s so funny?”

“Just that some things never change. Like, your American football and Thanksgiving dinner. That little incident will go down in family lore. Our grand kids will be hearing that story, well, some variation of it, I’m   
sure.”

It was only about another fifteen minutes or so before Theo let everyone know that the dinner was ready. Lakshmi yelled up the stairs to let the kids know. 

“Yalla imshi,” Alecta yelled when the children didn’t come straight away.

“Mommy we’re coming, gosh.”

Besides Alecta’s twins there were at least 10, if not 12 other children that came running down the stairs. Two of the oldest children belonged to Immogene and Theo. Immogene had a son, Alfie, that was about 12.   
Theo had a daughter, Yrena, about the same age. The other children weren’t as old as the two of them; the ages were rather staggered really. Most of the smaller children sat around a table that the men had put up; it was round, nearly a complete replica of the larger, adult sized, dining table. 

For the most part, Morgan was able to enjoy some light banter with Alecta and her friends. They were actually quite funny, retelling some of the antics that the group had gotten into over the years. Details about some of the cases that they had worked on were left out or changed to protect the names of benefactors and survivors, etc. it didn’t seem like so very long before the night drew to a close. Alfie and Yrena had spent some time telling Alecta how school was going for them; and the other children of course spent the night volleying for attention and laughs from the grown-ups.

“Do you want me to stay? I mean, are you going to need any help?”

“Nah, I’ll be fine. I mean the group is on security tonight. But I should be ok. I’m not sure how I’m getting up the stairs. Let me hop you over to the door. Damned crutches. I don’t quite know how I’m getting up the   
stairs tonight. The group is on security. But, I think I’ll manage. If I must I can sleep on the couch.”

“No you don’t,’ Morgan scooped her up in his arms quickly,’ I can help you, at least with getting up stairs.”

Once he carried her up the stairs Alecta had given him an exasperated look.

“Really? Well, I suppose I should’ve seen this coming.”

“Yes really. If you fell down these stairs you’d wind up with more than a broken ankle.”

“Well Garcia warned me about you.”

“She did, did she?”

“Why yes.”

“What did she say?”

Alecta wrapped an arm around his neck, realizing that he wasn’t going to listen to reason. 

“She said you were a stubborn, stubborn man. That you aren’t the type to take NO for an answer. But she did also say that you were her best friend around here. I know what that means to her. So, knowing what   
that means to her, I suppose I can overlook a lot.”

“How do you know my baby girl?”

Alecta looked at him for a second; there was a hesitation in her eyes.

“Round the corner, next door on the left.” She gave him directions down the hall to her room. That wary look in her eyes never left. And he seemed to notice there was a rigidity that suddenly entered her body.

“You don’t have to tell me everything if you don’t want to; I just want to know how you know Pen.”

He placed her down on the bed as soon as he was able.

“In my bathroom, can you flick on the light over the vanity? I’m…I’m terribly afraid of the dark.”

Nodding, Morgan did as she asked. He figured he would have to wait a little bit while she came to grips with what she was going to have to say to him. As he came out of the bathroom he didn’t see her in the bed.   
Looking around he noticed that she was in a corner of the room behind a screen, changing clothes.

“Woman!”

“Man! What now?”

“You’re supposed to be in bed.”

Coming from around the screen in her pajamas, Alecta had her bottom lip poked out with a mischievous sort of smirk on her face, hopping along on one foot trying to make it back over to the bed.

“Now he’s ordering me around in my own home. I like a man with back bone.”

He took in her pajamas; a pair of track shorts, they were actually black. And her tank top, which hugged her curves better than 40 miles of bad road, was a deep, vibrant purple; the words across the front read ‘THIS   
is what a Goddess looks like’. He had to chuckle a little bit.

“So stud, you like what you see?’ watching him blush, she smiled. “You wanna give me a boost or what? I’d use the stool but…”

She didn’t even get a chance to finish the sentence; Morgan put his hands around her waist and boosted her back onto the bed. Alecta thanked him. 

Alecta’s room was huge. There was built in cabinetry on one end, wall to wall, it was all the storage most normal women would need. Her bed looked almost like it was built into the wall; four posters, heavily   
carved, old like the other furniture. It wasn’t old like run down; it was old like you would see in some great estate somewhere. There was one wall that was nearly covered in windows that looked out onto a multi-  
level courtyard, complete with a carved fountain in the middle. And there was a continuation of the lived-in industrial feel that was in the rest of the place. He sat on the bed next to her, watching her face, trying to   
read her.

“Stop it.”

“Stop what?”

“You’re not that obtuse. Stop trying to read me. It won’t work…well, ok, so it will work. But, only to a point. I’m the queen. You’ll only find out so much.”

“Have it your way.”

“Garcia and I go way back. I met her for the first time, years ago. She was passing through NC, not far from where I grew up, our paths crossed briefly. I didn’t see her again for about 10 years. I was under cover   
against the human traffickers. She was still just a hacker. Apparently she hacked somewhere she wasn’t supposed to go. She was just doing what she does best. The traffickers must have thought that the feds were   
close or that they had a mole in their system somewhere. They had someone, an affiliate, track her down…’ seeing his disbelieving look, ‘Yeah, they were that damned good. They found her. All I know is that one   
day she was brought to the warehouse where we were being kept. I recognized her immediately. I was already in deep water as it was. The intel that I was able to get my hands on had let me know that there was a   
rat on the side of law enforcement; they were passing information about our investigation onto the traffickers, although, they didn’t really know I was the plant, up to that point my cover was safe. But if they   
thought they had a rat on their side….I wasn’t sure how much more I could tap dance. And I knew that if they thought that she had something to do with it….I saw the things they did to her. I had to stop it. The girls   
you met tonight, the seven…they were some of the girls that had been ‘acquired’ by the traffickers. It was one thing for me to be there. It was my job. I had to be there to try to free those girls. I put myself there. But   
those girls…and Penelope…they didn’t deserve what they were going through….”

“And you did?”

“Hush. I also saw a way to help shut the ring down using Pen. One day, while they were busy and not paying much attention to some of us, I went to the area where she was being held. I cut her loose. She   
recognized me, but we didn’t have time for a reunion. I told her what was going on and how to get out. I lead her as close to the escape route as I possibly could. I pushed her into the hall way and told her to run 

and DO NOT look back.”

“What did she do?”

“Exactly what I told her to do. She went to the closest police department and she told them that she had information on the trafficking case. She told them some key information that I had given her. When the chief   
of the precinct asked her how she knew as much as she did, she showed him some of her injuries, and she told them that she had talked to me. That got the ball rolling. Within less than 24 hours the traffickers   
were raided. The survivors lived happily ever after. The end.”

“Except it’s not as nice and neat as all that is it?”

“Well, no. But isn’t it past your bedtime? You should probably be getting home.”

“L-e-x.” the way Morgan drug out her nickname made her aware that he wasn’t going to back down; not at all.


	10. Who Are You? Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mainly a fair bit of conversation between Morgan and Alecta. The bit that I have included about the Japanese girl, Ivory, was actually based loosely off of a documentary that I watched a few years ago about how North Korea 'allegedly' (I put that to cover my own butt) kidnapped a bunch of Japanese citizens ages ago during some of the trouble that was going on around the time of the Korean war. They had operatives that would snatch these people off of the street to bring them back to Korea to teach some of the Korean military how to behave like Japanese people...all of their mannerisms (how they brushed their teeth, how they shook hands, everything). That way the Koreans could infiltrate Japan and use their spies to gather intelligence. There were many that died during their time in Korea. A few that had been taken as children were eventually returned. One girl is still missing, but thought to be a teacher to some of the children to the Korean heads of state etc.

“Grrrrr. The girls are doing alright. I mean, yeah there are some things that just could never be reconciled.”

“Like what?”

“Ivory. She was kidnapped in broad daylight off of the streets of Tokyo while walking home from school with one of her friends. Her friend Kykio narrowly escaped the same fate. She was able to give a brief physical description to the cops. During Ivory’s time as property of the traffickers, her mother died slowly over many months, some say from a broken heart. Her father worked himself into an early grave. He had his regular job, he worked about 80 hours a week, and then he came home and cared for his wife. His health didn’t hold out. Her siblings all scattered to the four winds once they were old enough to move out on their own. She has since tracked them all down. But after all these years, it’s been hard to build the closeness back up that they once shared. Cossette was kidnapped off the streets of Paris. Her family was homeless and transient, and it’s made it nearly impossible to track them down. Although there was one time a few years ago she thought she may have caught sight of one of her brothers. She can’t be sure though, because by the time she reached the point where he had been standing, he was gone. And she hasn’t seen either of her parents, she doesn’t know if they are alive or dead. Oona and Theo have both tracked their families down, and they have rebuilt some of the family ties that they once had, but they are still distant with their relations. Their families sold them to the traffickers, they feel betrayed. Now in all honesty, the parents thought they were giving the girls to people who were going to bring them to America and give them better lives. That’s the story that they were given. And the girls know that, but they still have a hard time forgiving. You don’t know what they lived through. Immogene and Zaheer have also found their families but are distant, only for slightly different reasons. They were kidnapped, like Ivory and Cossette. But they feel as though there was a point in time where their families gave up on them. They were often told that if the child wasn’t found in a certain amount of time that they were likely dead that they should move on. Which they did. The police were supposed to still be working the case, but the investigation pretty much stalled. And the girls were forgotten, left to die. Lakshmi has more reason than most to hate her family, and she does. Her biological parents sent her to live with an uncle when she was a child. They were somewhat poor and they thought by sending her to live with him it would open her up to advantages they couldn’t give her. At the age of 8 he sold her to a madam. She was kept in the madam’s house to do odd jobs----cooking, cleaning, etc. by the age of 11 the madam had started using her as a prostitute. By age 13 or 14 the madam sold her to the traffickers; they paid the madam as much money as it would have taken Lakshmi four months to earn. So for most of her life, Lakshmi was someone’s property. Other girls have similar stories. There are some girls that didn’t make it. And there are some that should have died after what was done to them, but they live if for no other reason than to spite the people who did those awful things to them.”

“What about you?”

“What about me? 

“You have told me quite a bit about the girls. But what about Alecta? Who is she? What is she like?

“Look, it’s hard to be forgotten when you were never thought very much of in the first place,’ trying to get out of the bed, ‘If you’re too tired to drive home, I have room for you. Come, I can show you the way.”

“Stay in bed. You’ve had enough excitement for a few days, and you need to stay off that ankle for a little bit. I can ride the couch. But I can promise you that you will never know that feeling again. We, the team, won’t let it happen.”

“Well, we shall see.”

Morgan stood to walk out, Alecta watched him. In her heart of hearts she knew he was trying to make every effort to make her feel like she finally had friends, people that cared about her. It was the same thing that Rossi had tried to accomplish years ago, but just never followed up on. She only recognized the feeling from when she had Kevin in her life. And maybe Yuri and Impatiev. She wasn’t sure she should trust him; she had a lot of good excuses not too. Scrunching her eyes tightly shut and taking a deep breath….

 

“My story doesn’t matter so much…..”

“What if it matters to me?”

Alecta was sitting up in bed, her legs dangling over the side, her head in her hands trying to get it together.

“Why does it though?”

“You’re a friend of Penelope’s, that’s all I need to know. If she cares about a person, then that means there’s something there inside that person worth caring about.”

Alecta heaved a heavy sigh. 

“I was married years ago to a man named Yuri. Sergei, you met him in L.A., is his brother. They were identical. I fell in love with him rather quickly. Our relationship….everything was just….it wasn’t long at all before we were expecting our daughters. They were twins….I think twins ran in his family on both sides. Lucky me right. While I was carrying them, we flew out to Russia and made our way to the village that he and Sergei grew up in. To say that the girls were nearly born in Russia would be an understatement. We had only been back in the states for about two, maybe three weeks when they made their appearances. We got married in Russia while I was pregnant. Hand me that book please.”

Morgan handed her a rather large binder. Alecta turned to a page. Morgan realized it was a photo album.

“This was our wedding picture. That little old man is the Orthodox Patriarch that officiated. I miss that little old guy. He was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. His long beard and that big hat. I have a room set up for him as I do at all of my places; should he ever come for a visit, I wanted him to have his own quiet place. He actually visits quite often.”

She quietly flipped to another page.

“This was Yuri’s parents. His momma gave him hell for letting me take such a long flight as pregnant as I was. She wasn’t really mad at him, just being a mom. But she teased me about the fact that I was nothing but   
belly. I never did gain much weight during any of the pregnancies I had, it was mostly baby. Like with the last one, Sofie and Emma, I only gained a total of about 30lbs. But that belly…I felt like a total whale.”

“But you weren’t.”

“Yeah, well I couldn’t see my feet, I kept wearing miss matched colored shoes…of course seeing Reid’s socks, now I don’t feel so bad. I ate like an elephant. And my mood swings were horrible. As dangerous as Yuri and Sergei could be, they feared me with their very lives while I was pregnant.”

Alecta turned yet another page.

“This was my son; my dear, sweet baby boy. This was taken when he was about five months old, just before I went undercover. He was never a little baby. When he was born, he was nearly 15lbs and 24 inches long.   
They never told me I’d give birth to a two year old. I was on bed rest with him the last trimester. That pregnancy had put such a strain on my health. I had all sorts of back problems; breathing issues...I suppose he was nearly too big considering how small I am built. But he was a wonderful baby. He rarely ever cried. He slept through the night almost from the very beginning. He would smile and laugh all day. He was such a darling little boy.”

Morgan could sense a sadness creeping into her.

Alecta shut the book. She leaned over and rifled through the drawer on her night table. She pulled out a small photograph, must’ve been about a 4x6.

“This was taken while I was recovering in the hospital after the undercover operation shut down. It was supposed to last for six months and instead it lasted for two years. These are those same twin girls; they were on the verge of starting kindergarten soon. They were thrilled. Yuri had been working with them to teach them their alphabet and their numbers. They already knew how to spell everybody’s name. They were just so happy; you couldn’t get them to be quiet, they were always rambling with questions asking what kindergarten would be like. And this is my baby boy. He was nearly three. His potty training was over. He was talking a good bit. He was still huge, not obese, just…like I said, he’d never been little. He was going to be humongous like his father.”  
Morgan noticed Alecta sniff a little bit as she pulled the next picture out.

“This was taken my last day in the hospital, just before I was completely checked out. A nurse took the picture of all of us together….Yuri had brought the kids in. As usual Oleg, my son, climbed up on the bed to snuggle with me, and like always, he whispered in my ear ‘I love you mommy’. He had never forgotten me. The first time I heard him say it, I couldn’t stop crying. I had only been in the hospital for a couple of days at that point. And the thing I feared the most, out of all I had been through, was that my babies had forgotten me. And Oleg was the first one to say it out of the three. I don’t think there was ever anything sweeter ever said. But that’s all of us together. Me, Yuri, the kids. It was always funny to me how much they always looked like him. They all had his platinum blonde hair, that’s not me. And the girls had green eyes like his momma. Oleg had his blue ones; all the kids had Yuri’s rosy cheeks. This was the last picture I ever got to have taken of my children.”

“What happened?”

“About an hour or two later, after my release forms were all completed, Yuri and the kids helped the nurse roll me in the wheel chair out to the portico near the emergency room. Oleg rode in my lap, he didn’t want to be away from me for a minute. I could barely go to the bathroom without him having a fit. Sasha and Katrine gave me kisses on my cheeks then they went and stood by their father. Oleg leaned in and gave me a sloppy wet baby’s kiss on one cheek, hugging my neck. Yuri picked him up. He and the children went to the car; Yuri buckled the kids in. As Yuri turned to get into the driver’s seat, he looked up at me and smiled. He always did have such a lovely smile. Once he was in behind the wheel he tried to crank the car. It wouldn’t start. He tried again, same thing, it wouldn’t start. After the third try he realized what was wrong. He looked at me through the windshield….I don’t think I will ever forget the look on his face. I’ll go to my grave seeing that look in his eyes. His eyes were so full of fear and regret. I had never seen him afraid of anything the entire time we knew each other, he’d never been afraid of a damned thing. But he was terrified now….”  
Tears had started just pouring down her cheeks; Alecta had to pause to pull herself together enough to finish telling the tale.

“What happened sweet heart?”

“I just kept looking at him trying to figure out what his problem was. Then….then…the car…it exploded. My babies, my poor dear sweet babies were trapped in that car, and it was just…and Yuri, he was a good man; at least to me.”

That’s when the damn broke, the thought of her babies being trapped in a car that was rigged with explosives. She cried so hard then, it sounded as though she would never stop, but soon she was trying to force herself to stop crying.

“This was retaliation by the traffickers. They figured out what my involvement had been. It’s what sent me into the funny farm.”

She couldn’t stop crying no matter how hard she tried.

“You can cry if you want to. Nobody is going to make you stop.”

“But what’s the point? When I stop, they’re still going to be gone. Trust me, I’ve tried begging God that one day I would wake up, and it would all be some horrible nightmare. I’ve promised to give up everything I   
ever owned in my life….I’d give everything I have….And it’s like nothing is ever enough…”  
She could not make herself stop crying. Morgan wrapped his arms around her, and the very notion that she had somebody that wanted to do that at all seemed to make her cry harder. Morgan didn’t know what to do. And as if reading his mind Immogene came to the door of the room. Quietly she strode into the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet, and then she got some water in a glass that sat near the sink. Coming back into the room she sat the glass of water down and sat a bottle of ibuprofen next to it and smiled at Derek.

“She’s going to be brewing a killer headache when she wakes up if she doesn’t take a few of these,’ she whispered and walked back out.

Morgan would never be able to thank the girl enough.

Finally Morgan got Alecta to sit up on her own and take the pills with some of the water. She lay back down and Morgan pulled the covers back up over her. She was watching every move he made; her eyes, for all the tears that had just been shed had not lost any of the weariness that seemed to cloud them. Morgan ran a hand through her hair and then turned to leave, by the time he made it to the bedroom door she was out cold; he made his way back downstairs to the living room. He’d ride the couch like he promised. There was a blanket that was draped over the back, and there were plenty of pillows, he’d make do. But he wasn’t leaving tonight. No. He wanted to stay and find out what more he could learn. Before going to sleep Morgan texted Garcia ‘Baby Girl, I’m staying over at Lex’s place. Will call or come over later. She had a rough night after all.’

Garcia soon sent a reply thanking him for keeping her in the loop and she told him that she might stop by the place later to see Alecta herself.  
It was like Rossi said all along, if you gave her enough space, slowly but surely everything would come out in the wash. But Morgan wasn’t always the most patient of men. It was one of his only failings that anyone   
could find, his lack of patience at certain times.


	11. Who Are You? Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alecta wakes up from a horrible nightmare and decides she was going to try to self-medicate. Doesn't get the chance...

Alecta sat bolt upright in bed with a gasp, clutching at her throat. She had the cold sweats again. Her sheets were soaked from them. Jumping down out of her bed she very nearly forgot about her broken ankle until she put just a little too much pressure on it, and she grunted with the sudden pain. Shifting strategies (feet) she hopped the best she could to the stairs, she sat on the stairs and slid down them on her butt, getting to the bottom of them she stood back up; carefully this time. She hopped around until she reached the liquor cabinet in the living room space. As quietly as she could manage she opened the cabinet and rummaged around until she found what it was she was looking for; a ceramic jug with a cork in the top of it. The jug was older than God and the cork…who knows. But the contraband beverage inside was just the right age. 

“Oh no you don’t!” Immogene had caught her in the act before she could pop the cork. Damned corks, shoulda gone with something a little more modern….GRRRR!!! Alecta thought to herself.

“Momma you put that down.”

“No! And be quiet, you’ll wake up our guest. And I didn’t think it was in your genetics to be rude.” Alecta whispered, almost hissed at Immogene. Her nerves were done for after that nightmare. Her hands were shaking so hard, her whole body really. She only needed something for her nerves.

“Put the jug down MOMMA!”

“What is all that yelling about?” Morgan sat up, he’d only been asleep for about three hours, this had better be good.

Alecta had finally managed, between the shaky hands and the fact that the cork was difficult to begin with, get the jug open. But before she could take the first drink, Immogene had managed to get close enough to her to wrap her arms around her from behind; Theo was making it down the hall about this time.

“What are you doing Ma?” Theo was worried.

“I was thirsty.”

“Ma, you have a glass of water by your bed, I know for a fact that Imma left that along with you headache medicine on you night table.”

Alecta had still been struggling and as a consequence, Immogene hadn’t let her go.

“Please, just a little, I swear.”

“Someone start explaining.” Morgan was more worried than anything right now.

“Agent Morgan, Ma had a nightmare and she isn’t doing too well.”

“Everything would be fine if this heifer would let me go!” Alecta had almost gotten free of Imma just have her clamp her arms back around her again.

Morgan walked over and grabbed the jug away from her and put it on a higher shelf.

“OH!” Alecta practically growled at Morgan.

“I’ll deal with her; you two can go back to what you were doing.”

Immogene and Theo nodded and left them to it.

Morgan turned to see Alecta standing there defeated. He’d only seen that look on her one other time; it was during the case when she came face to face with her estranged husband. He didn’t like that look on her,   
not at all. He could see he was shaking so hard she could barely stand still enough to balance on her good ankle; she had to hold onto the edge of the cabinet for fear of toppling over. She wouldn’t even look him in the face, she kept trying to look past him or at the floor, and there was a pained expression in her eyes from what he could see.

“What was the nightmare about?”

“Same thing as always.”

Her voice, which always made her sound young for her age, sounded even smaller; shakier even.

“Talk to me girl,’ Morgan walked over closer to her; but he happened to notice that the closer he got the harder she shook. He finally pushed enough that she took a couple of hobbling steps back away from him.   
Instead of answering she merely shook her head NO. 

“You already know that you can talk to me.”

“Talking won’t fix this. It never fixes it.”

Morgan had never heard anyone sound so sad.

“Drinking never really fixed anything much either.”

“Maybe not; but I know damn well by the time I get to the bottom of that bottle I will be able to sleep one way or the other. I won’t be able to feel a thing. I won’t be able to think. It’ll be wonderful.”

“Well if you can get it down, you can have it. Why don’t you at least sit down?”

“I really don’t feel so great.” Alecta put one hand to her forehead; she slowly shook her head from side to side in a fashion that gave Morgan the impression that she was disgusted with herself.

Morgan went over and took her hands and felt how cold and clammy they were. He ran a hand across her forehead, and it was still covered in perspiration from having the cold sweats when she woke up…

“Come sit down before you fall down, please.”

Alecta only nodded and allowed him to lead her to the sofa where he had just been sleeping mere moments ago.

“Now, are you going to tell me what the nightmare was about?”

Alecta took a deep breath, trying to pull herself together. 

“What was your daddy like?” She still refused to look at Morgan; she kept her eyes on the floor if anywhere for very long. 

“Your nightmare was about your father?”

“Derek? What was he like?”

“He was a cop. He was the kind of guy that most everybody liked. He was a good guy basically. He was killed off duty trying to stop a robbery and I watched the whole thing. I was about 10 at the time.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“What was your dad like?”

“Hmmmm. Nothing like yours.”

“L-e-x.”

“Well. When I was four I watched him beat my momma to death like a dog. It’s kinda the same thing.”

“Lex you have to get this out.”

“No. No, I don’t. It’s not like it matters. By this time tomorrow night, things will be as they are now. The nightmare will come back. I’ll get to the part where he collapsed on top of me and I can’t breathe. And then I’ll   
watch him walk away from a murder a free man….”

“Back this train up for a second…”

“And it’s all my fault. It’s all my fault.”

“Wait…back up…what? What’s your fault?”

“Daddy got away with it because o’me. When the detective and the social worker asked me if I had seen who had hurt my momma, I told them NO. I lied. I had just watched him beat momma to death. And there I was   
sitting on his lap, his arm around my waist as he told me to tell the police the truth so they could get the bad people that hurt my mommy. And I lied to save my own skin. She died trying to protect me and I lied.”

Silent tears fell down her cheeks in a torrent. Her voice was strangely hollow.

“I knew better than to tell the truth.”

“What do you mean?”

Alecta looked at Derek at this time; the look on her face was almost incredulous. 

Alecta adjusted the way that she sat on her sofa, right now she was sort of sitting on one knee almost facing Derek head on, the look on her face quite earnest; her hair was disheveled from a restless sleep; yet, in   
her way she was the cutest thing he’d ever seen. Big brown eyes that were like deep, sad pools of chocolate. Tiny little hands, they were almost exactly the size of her daughters’ hands. They were still cold and clammy, and shaking. Aside from her figure, there wasn’t much that wasn’t small on her. The more Derek studied her, he came to realize just how much like her daughters she really was. It almost seemed as if the children had been cloned completely from her. She was just a slightly taller, more adult version of those little imps. 

“What if they didn’t believe me? I mean, you know as well as I do how reliable a child’s testimony to a crime is. They are scared and their emotions are all over the place. What if they just figured I was too scared by   
what happened to make real sense of the situation? If they thought I had been mistaken or was just outright lying, they would’ve sent me home with him. I would’ve been dead before the front door slammed shut.   
Or what if they had believed me? My momma had just died. For good or bad, Daddy was all I had left. If they took him away from me too, where was I gonna go? Who was gonna take care of me? Not that Daddy ever   
troubled himself much over me, not unless I served his purposes. But he was all I knew. I couldn’t lose both of them.”

“What did you mean when you said he collapsed on top of you?”

“Huh? Oh, n-nothing. It’s n-nothing. I wanna go back to bed.”

She started to remove herself from the sofa, but Derek wrapped an arm around her waist so quickly she hadn’t the time to go far.

“Wha…?

“Stay here.”

“I have to go back upstairs.”

“But what if you have another nightmare?”

“So what if I do? It is what it is.”

“But if you stay here I’ll be right beside you if you want to talk when you snap out of it.”

“Oh, honey, I didn’t wanna talk this time. I usually just drink ‘til I collapse. It helps the most.” Alecta shrugged as she spoke.

“Fine. Go back to bed. But I’m coming with you.”

“No, mmm…No.”

“If you are having nightmares this bad, you don’t really need to be alone right now.”

“I’ve been alone one way or another all my life. A little nightmare is nothing.”

“I do this for Pen all the time, it helps her some. And she usually returns the favor.”

Alecta only shrugged her shoulders again, not offering another argument; this was a clear indicator to Morgan just how tired she really was. Well there was that, and the fact that her eyes were starting to blink heavily with the effort of staying open.

“Up ya go.” Morgan swept her back up into his arms again to carry her upstairs.

“You don’t have to carry me, you know. I have legs…well a leg.”

“Hush. You and Garcia are so much alike.”

“How’s that?”

“Ya’ll are both as stubborn as a government mule.”

“Thank you. I’ve been called worse.”

Once he got Alecta back to her room and got the two of them settled into bed, Alecta leaned up and pulled the covers up over herself.

“You don’t have to sleep with them all piled on you if you don’t want. But I am so cold natured…and besides…I can’t…”

“It’s ok. It’s your room, I can figure it out.”

Derek lay back on the pillow behind his head and she began to settle down. Alecta laid her head down on his chest as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gathered her close. 

“Don’t tell anybody about the nightmares, mmK.” Alecta said sleepily as she dozed back off. She didn’t even wait for Morgan to reply, she was already out cold; sleeping with her left hand curled up under her head,   
exactly as Sofie had done on the jet, her right hand reached up to rub her nose a bit. But other than that, Alecta was completely gone, you could’ve run a marching band through the room and it was doubtful that she’d wake up.

Morgan made a silent promise to her that he would keep the secret about her nightmares as long as was possible. He had a deeper understanding of just what Rossi had been talking about only days before. You couldn’t help but be over protective of this woman. She needed it more than anyone he’d ever met. And nobody could know just how much she would truly need them in the coming weeks.


	12. Who Are You? Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We have a little crossover action in this chapter....not so much action as it is conversation....but crossover? Yes. And who is this Kevin person? Think back to the photograph that Alecta was putting on her desk during her first day at the BAU. 
> 
> I should probably mention that, at least for the most part, this story (and the follow-up) is at least somewhat AU. I'm not that great at writing case fics, so my imagination has to go somewhere with it all.

The team had the next few days off. After some discussion as to what to do with their day, Alecta and Derek decided to have the rest of the team over. It would give everyone a better chance to get to know her; rather like ripping the band-aid off of a wound really. And she could have a chance to get to know the team on her own turf. It was actually Alecta’s idea; she made the phone call that got the ball rolling on that. Her girls went shopping for supplies for the dinner, taking the children with them, to give her some time to pull herself together. Not only that, but ‘the girls’ usually used little outings like this to train the children to spot possible bad people a mile away. They would make a sort of game out of learning how to read people’s body language and facial expressions, that way the kids wouldn’t realize they what they were really doing at the time. Of course the kids were allowed to do normal kid stuff. It wasn’t all training. Alecta had told JJ and Hotch to bring their kids and significant others, it would do the kids at the compound good to have a few normal friends on the outside to socialize with.

While Morgan’s back was turned for just a split second, Alecta disappeared upstairs. She was happy that Derek wanted to be so helpful, but she needed a shower in the worst way before the guests arrived. She was slowly becoming friends with Derek, but they weren’t friends like that. She would just have to be careful about that bum ankle. 

Alecta washed her hair while she was in there. To some, the amount of times a week she spent washing her hair would seem excessive. But it helped to calm her nerves; and seeing as Derek still had yet to take down her jug of questionable origins, this was the best she could do.

Derek went looking for Alecta. He couldn’t believe that she could disappear so fast on one good leg, and upstairs, too. Speaking of which he happened to catch her in her room as she came out of the bathroom limping on her one good ankle dressed only in a towel, with another wrapped around her hair.

“I’ve been looking all over for you!”

“Ahhhhh!” Alecta jumped and screamed. She couldn’t stop shaking from the fright he gave her. “Dude, really? That was completely necessary?” 

“What do you think you are doing?”

“I hadda take a shower. Would you want the team to come over with me smelling like 40 kinds of ass? I think not. “

“Why didn’t you call me to help you?”

“Seriously? I’ve known you for what, a week, two at most? You gotta buy me a drink or two before you get to see all this,’ Alecta waved a hand about indicating she was talking about her body. She sort of chuckled   
nervously as she went over to the dressing screen he’d seen before.

“Anyway, Hotch and the others will be here soon.”

“Yeah, I know, I told him what time they should come over.”

There was an alarm, somewhat like a doorbell, that sounded announcing the arrival of a guest.

“What the…”

“That’s Rossi.”

“Why is that old fart early? Really.”

“I can let him in or whatever.”

“Ummm….nah. One of the others will grab it.”

Alecta busied herself pulling on a pair of holey jeans that had definitely seen better days, and a slogan tank top that said “THESE ARE NOT MY EYES” across the front. She had on undergarments that were of a deep purple color. Not that Derek had noticed, not at all. Next she combed her hair back and pulled it up into a pony tail gathered just below the crown of her head, the tail of it hung just slightly past her hips. Once she   
had made sure she was decently dressed she made her way to the top of the stairs; Derek was right down behind her and stopped her before she could pull her usual stunt of bouncing down the steps on her bottom. She just looked at him and took a deep breath.

“You’re really going to have to stop that sometime. People are going to start talking.”

“And let them. You’re my friend; all I’m doing is helping you down the stairs.”

“Well, now we’re at the bottom.”

“Morgan, the girl has crutches.”

“Rossi, nice to see you. In Derek’s defense I do hate those things. They kill my arms; I wind up doing more damage to myself with them than without. Where are the others?”

“They’ll be along. Nice painting.”

“Yeah, I love her. After everyone gets here I can give you the fifty-cent tour of the joint. But that’s one of the things I only intend to do one time.” At that she sort of swished her bad ankle around gingerly. “Morgan,   
Derek my friend, it’s time to put me down now.”

Rossi could only chuckle quietly. Kong came around the corner as Derek placed her on the end of the sectional sofa with the chaise offering her something to drink. It wasn’t much longer before the girls and the children made it back. Emma made a b-line for her mother and hopped up on the sofa with her, leaning into Lex’s left side. Sofie, meanwhile, had a smirk on her face a mile wide.

“Sofie, darling, what are you up to?”

“Nuffin mommy, but guess what.”

“Do tell.”

“Papa Angelov is coming!!!”

“Really?”

“U-huh,’ Sofie was nodding emphatically. 

Alecta’s daughters had met Father Angelov a time or two; he was the Orthodox Patriarch that had officiated her marriage to Yuri years ago. It had been a while since she’d seen him. 

“I have to make sure his cell is ready,’ Alecta made to jump up off of the sofa, but was stopped by one of Kong’s large hands keeping her grounded. 

“Oh, Mama please, we’ll see to it. Theo has already started making the necessary arrangements.”

All Alecta could do was nod in agreement. Emma was still holding on to her mother’s left side, quiet as usual.

“Em, what’s up with you? You are normally so happy to see Papa Angelov.”

“Oh mommy, I am. It’s just….”

“She saw someone at the store today who worried her.”

“Immogene?”

“Well, mommy, Sofie ashully saw the firs’one.”

“U-huh, I did mommy. He was a little bit tall like…like…that doctor from the plane, your work friend, mommy….”

“Reid?”

“Yeah-huh, him. But he had more muscles, more like Agent Man over here. I seen a tattoo mommy, well a couple of them. Some of them were in funny letters.”

Alecta’s blood ran cold for just a second. “What kind of funny letters baby?”

“Like the ones on your back; like there was a funny looking K…it had too many legs on it, like one o’them spiders you showed us. And I seen a star on one of his knees…cause his pants leg had a hole in the knee   
like yours right here,’ Sofie pointed to her own knee, ‘He didn’t say nuffin to me. But when I was looking at some of the candy I wanted, I seen him mommy. So I did like you told me, I acted natural. I gotsa bag of   
candy and went to find Immogene, and I pretended she was my mommy.”  
Oh God. Not today, not today. Alecta was trying so hard to not let the breakfast she didn’t eat come up. She closed her eyes and concentrated really hard on slowing down her heart rate.

“Emma, tell your mommy about what you saw today.”

“Uh, I don’t think so, Aunt Oona. Mommy don’t look like she feels good.” Emma shook her head in the negative.

“It’s ok baby you can tell me, Mommy will always listen to you. And where is Jazzy?”

“Oh, sorry Ma. She went to go help Theo.”

“Mommy.”

“Yes, Emma.”

“The bad man I saw was big like Uncle Sergei. But he wasn’t from the same place as Uncle Sergei. When I heard him speak to someone nearby his voice sounded funny like yours.”

“What do you mean baby? Like his voice made him sound like a little boy like Josef?”

“No, Mommy. Funny like the way he says his words, like you.”

“Emma, I want you and Sofie to go and get your toys from this morning picked up in the play room. It won’t be long until some of my other friends from work get here and I don’t want the house looking like a mess.   
I’ll call you guys when they get here so you can meet the other kids.”

“Yes Mommy. C’mon Sofie, we gotsa make the toys go night-night.”

Strangely enough, Sofie didn’t argue. That wasn’t like her. She wasn’t the kind of kid that was into house work. She was known for dragging her toys all over creation, but if she had her own money she’d pay you   
$50 to clean up her mess for her. The sighting today must have rattled little Miss Sofie more than she cared to admit. She was becoming as good as Alecta at trying to bury that side of her. The jury was still out on whether that was a good thing or not. 

Once the two girls had gone upstairs to their room, the other kids dispersed to the courtyard to hang out a little before dinner. The ‘doorbell’ rang again, Mac ran to open the door finding that the rest of Alecta’s team from the bureau had shown up; he let them in greeting them in his brogue and letting them know they could sit anywhere they chose.   
In the meantime, Alecta had managed to get up and was wandering over by this mysterious cabinet that had grabbed Derek’s attention the day before. She had hobbled over there and was standing, facing the cabinet front, with her hand braced on the desk top that accompanied the cabinet. She was deep in thought when Rossi came to her side.

“Monkey, are you Ok?”

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry yourself about me.”

But Rossi watched her as she had jumped nearly out of her skin; the next best thing anyway, considering her injury, that and the fact that she never once made eye contact as she spoke to him.

“What funny letters do you have on your shoulders?” Morgan was genuinely curious now; did she have some kind of crazy tattoo he hadn’t noticed?

Hotch and his date, Beth, both noticed the weary look in Alecta’s eyes as she turned to face Morgan unsteadily.

“Um. It’s only one shoulder; it’s nothing really…”

“Lex.” 

“Old man, handle my light work, the doorbell is going off again.”

“Who else could possibly be coming now? We’re all here already.”

“What’s the matter Reid? You think she’s hiding another team around the corner?”

“No, Prentiss. JJ, control ‘Cat Lady’ for me would you please?”

“Now, Spencer…”

“Yes, Will?”

“Girls, Girls, you’re all pretty. Now calm down,’ sometimes it exasperated JJ to have to be the mother hen.

“Gibbs, do come in. Tony, do I need to frisk you?” and of course the bad boy of NCIS just shot her a sly grin.

“Only if you feel up to it.”

“Pervert.”

“My sentiments exactly. How are you doing sister?”

“Ziva! Ooh! You missed it, we had Vindaloo last night.”

“Kong cooked?”

“Dear God, no. I had to eat something you know. No Phall for me.”

Abby and McGee were next to come through the door, Abby hugged her so tight.

“When are we getting new tattoos?” Abby’s blue eyes were twinkling.

“Have you picked a design yet? I haven’t. I haven’t been able to find one that trips my trigger lately.”

“How many do you have now?”

“At least five that you’d be able to see at any given time, without it being obscene, Tim,’ she watched him blush a deep red from being called out. “I love that you’re still you. Where’s my…”

“My dear girl, I’ve brought my best Scotch.”

“…favorite old man?” Alecta, herself, squealed with delight as she turned to see Dr. Mallard coming through the door. “Ducky, Ducky, Ducky!’ she could barely contain how happy she was to see him. Alecta planted a big smooch right on his cheek and squeezed him in a moderate hug, not nearly as tight as Abby had done to her. It was suddenly apparent where Sofie must get her flare for the dramatic from. And ‘Ducky’ returned her hug.

“Wait a damn minute here.”

“Oh, Rossi, you’re tied for the spot.” Alecta winked at Dave.

Hotch chuckled to Beth about the crisis that was nearly averted, ‘I do believe Dave would be damned insulted if it was anyone else but her.”

“And where is Director Vance?” 

“Leon’s coming,’ Gibbs answered quickly enough.

“Good, good. It’s nice for him to take a load off sometimes.”

“So, ‘Smurfette’, if you invited Dir. Vance, why wouldn’t you invite your section chief, Strauss I think I was told that was her name?”

“Well I was going to. Really I was. But my cell phone battery died before I could call her.”

Prentiss snorted with laughter at that one. The girl learned quickly that was for sure.

“Can I borrow her for a second guys?” 

Tony and the others made a movement of acquiescence to Morgan’s request.

“Tony! UH!’ Alecta couldn’t believe that he had sold her out that fast.

“And to think I was going to frisk him….”

“What is it about what Sofie said earlier that has you all upset? And, more to the point, what funny letters do you have on your shoulder that she mentioned?”

A squeal of joy was heard from upstairs that was a near mimic of the one that Alecta had emitted when she first saw ‘Ducky’ coming through the door.  
Garcia had taken Henry and Jack upstairs to get to know the other younger children. Squeals of joy could be heard from Sofie and Emma, mostly Sofie, at the sight of Aunt ‘Pellelope’. And of course the three girls were totally smitten with Jack and Henry. Sofie favored Jack the most…he was more like her personality-wise. They seemed to hit it off quite quickly. And Emma and Henry paired off while she showed him her sea shells that she had gotten on her trips to the beach from when she lived in L.A. Penelope had to laugh as she made her way back to the crowd down stairs upon over hearing Emma’s childlike mispronunciations of the names of the kinds of shells she had. And Pen knew that Henry was a good fit for a little friend for Emma; both of them were sort of quiet. Henry could be rambunctious once he got to know you, but he was actually a lot like both his parents in that he was somewhat of a quiet child, much like Emma. Jazzy grabbed her coloring book and crayons; she was going to color her Mommy a picture for a present. Soon enough, the twins and the two little boys joined her in her endeavor. They each colored pictures for their own parents. Once downstairs Penelope greeted the newly arrived guests as they all mingled, talking a lot to Abby about some new advancements in the computer world and to Tony about setting up a movie night double date with her and Derek and some woman of Tony’s choosing.  
McGee and Reid were actually talking about some books that they had read recently. Dave decided he might as well get to know his competition for the part of Alecta’s favorite old man, so he and ‘Ducky’ were discussing a lot of things; good scotch, cigars, and stories about the good ol’ days. It became quite apparent that Ducky was a great guy. He cared as much for Lex as anyone in that room.

“Rossi, old man, what do you know about her at all?’ Ducky had questioned when the conversation turned to Alecta.

“Only what I learned about her when I visited her at the psych ward, that and what’s in her personnel file. She doesn’t talk much about anything else, at least not to me. I’m afraid I didn’t keep in touch with her like I   
promised after our initial meeting. She contacted me a few months back, well sort of. She sent me a package of information about her impending divorce. It seemed that she was worried that her estranged husband would try to kill her and she was making sure that there were people that knew to look at him as a suspect.”

“I don’t know that he would have actually killed her, but I know he did something to make her think he could if the mood struck him. She sent the same information to Jethro and myself, as well as Ziva and her   
father, Director David.”

“How does she know the director?”

“She took some assassins training for a while; she had met him through her work with her ‘other’ team. He wanted to help. He allowed her, as well as some of the girls to take assassins training, matter of fact he almost insisted on it. I think the old director is quite taken with her. She is a charming creature is she not?”

Rossi was watching Alecta as she laughed ‘til tears came out of her eyes with Tony, ‘She is that.”

Tony had a big grin on his face as he chuckled about some movie trivia that he and Alecta found amusing. It made him feel good that he could make her laugh, she didn’t do enough of that.

“So how does your team know her Dr. Mallard?”

“She did some security work for us a while back. Between Davis, Ziva, and Kensi Blye from our Los Angeles department I don’t think many bad guys stand a chance. The three of them alone are quite dangerous, and when you put them together…I almost pity anyone that thinks they can take the three of them.”

Jazzy came running down the stairs looking for Alecta.

“Lexa, Lexa.”

“Yes baby?”

“I got sumfin we can send at mommy and make her feel better.”

Alecta somehow managed to sit in the floor without any pain to her ankle, of course even if there was she wouldn’t have complained, she would do anything for the kids. Jazzy climbed into her lap to show her the   
project that she had created. Just like any small child’s artwork, none of the colors were in the lines and you couldn’t tell what they were trying to achieve. But it didn’t matter to Alecta she treated it as though it was as priceless as a Van Gogh. 

“You know, I think your mommy will like it. I love the colors in it. Isn’t orange your mommy’s favorite color?”

“Mmm hmmm. It’s why I used a lot of it. It’ll make her happier faster. Lexa I fink Sofie and Emma are making you one, too. Well, they make you two.”

“Ok, well don’t tell me what they look like, I wanna be surprised. Now go on back upstairs and play with the others for a little while, yeah. Dinner will be ready soon enough.”

“Yep. I love you Lexa.”

“I love you too sweet pea.”

The little girl ran back up the stairs, Tony and McGee helped Alecta up off the floor so she wouldn’t have to use her ankle.

“I’ve gotta sit down a bit.”

“Come on girl, have a seat,’ Mac pulled up a chair for her to take a seat in when she got close enough.

As she closed in on the chair she could hear a voice coming from the general direction of the door. 

“I don’t care who you are, get out of my face. She’s my best friend.” The man’s voice was heard yelling.

“You’re not invited.’ One of her friends, James stated to the man.

“You got one more chance to get out of my face before I break yours. She is my friend, I don’t need an invitation.”

The man on the other side of the door barged into the room, shoving James out of the way, looking around the room until he found the person he was looking for.

“Tink, you’re alright!”

“K-Kevin?”


	13. Who Are You? Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Old ghosts start popping out of the woodwork.

“K-Kevin?”

“Tink.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Don’t be so glad to see me.”

“What do you want? Why are you even here?”

“Is that anyway to greet a guest? And an old friend at that.”

“An old friend? We haven’t even…You know what, come with me.”

Kevin followed her into her private library, Alecta didn’t shut the door…there was her fear of no escape route to think of. And even though this was her darling boy, they hadn’t seen each other in the flesh in about 25 years. And the last time she had seen him he was none too happy with her.

 

“Look, Tink, I…”

He didn’t get to finish his thought, Alecta whirled around on him quickly and if her eyes were anything to go by she was in a rage.

“You don’t get to call me that anymore.”

“I’ve called you Tink since we were kids; your momma called you Tink, she started that collection for you and everything.”

“Yeah, when we were kids. We haven’t been friends in a long time I fear.”

“I’ve always been your friend.”

“Sure you have. Where have you been for the last 25 years?”

“You’re the one that walked out on us.”

“I WAS 15!!! You knew what my life had been like; you knew what Daddy was like. I watched him beat Momma to death. I had to live alone in that house with HIM for 11 years. I watched him bring women into that house that I never saw leave…I lived through years of torture from him AND his friends. Then I had to sit through that trial. That God forsaken trial; I was 7 ½ months pregnant by my own daddy and I had to sit there on that witness stand, with him maybe 15 feet away from me, watching, while I told every dirty thing that he and his flying monkeys did to me and the other women…it was like it was happening all over again and I could do nothing to stop it.”

All of her guests had heard the outburst; Morgan turned to go to her and make this Kevin person pay for upsetting his friend. Garcia put a hand on one of his arms to stop him; it was as if she was telling him to stay put, that a lot of his questions as well as those of the team, would be answered briefly.

“Tink I…”

“And your mom and dad petitioned the courts to get custody of me at least until I turned 18…I wanted them to be my foster parents so bad, you will never know. And the judge turned them down saying that with   
your daddy being the town sheriff his job was too dangerous and that you mom’s job as a nurse made her work too many long hours and that that wouldn’t be a good environment for me…he said I needed someone that could be there a little more for me. He totally overlooked you. You were always there, but it wasn’t good enough for him. I got sent into foster care. Do you know what happens to kids in foster care?”

“Lex…”

“I do.’ Alecta sighed heavily. “Nobody wants older kids; they all want the little babies. And you don’t wanna get taken in by someone who does want to take the older kids. I got so tired of being somebody’s sweet princess; or being their little rag doll, I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t take one more man putting his hands on me again. It made me sick to have to sleep in my little room, in my little bed, in these pajamas that the women would buy for me…or to go to school in the new clothes…they were busy playing the good mother to me, and they really tried; and I had to act like the perfect daughter. But their husbands were busy making sure I knew just what ‘daddy’ wanted.”

“Le…”

“The last family I was stuck with….I had gotten so tired of it…I was so sick to death of being some man’s mattress. I rummaged through the house one day, stole a few hundred dollars…DON’T look at me like that!   
You don’t know half of what I lived through. If they were going to treat me like a whore, they might as well pay me like one…I earned it. I stole the money and I ran as far as I could go on it.”

“Lex you could have come back.”

“TO WHAT! Everyone in that town turned a blind eye to what he did. All those years. They knew what he was like and they did NOTHING. How many days or weeks does one kid have to show up to school covered from head to toe in bruises before something’s done? My God Kevin, after Momma’s murder I didn’t even speak more than two words until the trial. I was damned near a mute. You were there. And the only reason anyone bothered to come to the trial was to get a load of the sideshow. That’s all my life has EVER been to everybody; one big ass side show. Step right up, ladies and gentlemen; get your moneys’ worth…”

“Look, I only came here….”

“I don’t care. Go home. There’s nothing for you here.”

“Jake’s out.”

“N-No. They said…” Alecta whirled back around to face him and stopped her pacing/hobbling.

“20-35 years.”

“They promised me he’d never get out…”

Kevin nearly regretted telling her. All the color drained from her face, and she started stuttering again. She was right. All those years ago, after her mother’s death, she had muted up. She rarely ever spoke to anyone at all, unless it was him. But when she did speak, she was so terrified that she would stammer horribly. And she began to shake.

“Lex, to hell with everyone else in town. I don’t give a damn about them, never did. But you coulda come home to me.”

“N-No I-I-I couldn’t. I h-had already hurt you, I had to s-stay g- gone; the best I could hope for was that one day you would m- meet someone that deserved you, that would never run away from you. You deserved b- better ‘an me…I could give you nothing.”

“You took the choice away from me. I wanted you back and I had no way of knowing where you’d gone. I couldn’t find you.”

“What about the last 25-30 years? I wrote to you, you never wrote back. I would send cards and things to you parents and they always sent me something back. I’ve kept everything they gave me. But you, never   
once.”

“It’s like you said, I was still hurting.”

“I could understand why you didn’t wanna come to see me as just a social visit; after everything I didn’t deserve it. But Kevin, you were contacted when my husband and kids were murdered. You never came.”

“I’m sorry baby.”

“I was locked in that place,’ Alecta almost spit the words out; she became nearly choked with the tears. “The doctors thought I oughta just shoot the story out, just roll it right out there in a pretty bow. When I   
wouldn’t or couldn’t cooperate with them or behave the way I should they would just dope me up. Once I sorta stabbed one of the doctors about 30 times or so. But I couldn’t help it. I was…it was bad Kevin. They wanted to make me talk. They kept telling me if I talked it would make me better and they could let me go. I didn’t wanna talk to them. They treated me like I was five years old K. I wanted my best friend. You were all I ever had, and you weren’t there.”

Kevin watched as she turned to face the shelves of books behind her and she sniffed.

“I had been under cover for two years, during which time I was tortured nearly every day by two people; one of them had at one time been a doctor. After that, how was I supposed to trust one of them? I had   
watched my entire family get blown up. They didn’t understand how monumental this was for me. And they kept me doped up so bad that all I could do was sit in that damned chair looking out the window, drooling outa the side of my mouth, and pee on myself all day until someone came to clean me up. And my friend was nowhere to be found. None of my ‘friends’ from work, at the department came to see me. My brother-in-law had to stay away most of the time; his visits upset me so bad it was pathetic. And nobody from the Bureau came to see me. I had lived through hell. I had survived when most everyone else around me had died. I lost everything I had to that case, and nobody came to see me…..”

“Lex”

“Except ONE person. He was retired from the bureau. He was in town for a book signing; apparently he was an author of crime novels based on some of the people he had to catch over the years. Before that day, I   
had never met him or heard his name mentioned. But I guarantee you that I never forgot it after his visit.”   
Lex walked over to the shelf and picked up her beaten and ragged copy of the book that Rossi had given her, then she walked over to Kevin, handing him the book.

“Look on the liner notes, the back flap. Does he look familiar to you?”

Kevin did as he was told, ‘He’s just out there.”

Nodding, ‘Yes. He came in; he talked to me like a grown woman. I hadn’t been eating properly, another side effect of the drugs they kept me high on. Rossi put food in front of me and told me if I wanted to I could eat, but it was all the same to him. When he first sat down, he sat in such a way that I had no choice but to make eye contact. We talked for a few hours. I’ve kept that book all these years. It was the nicest thing anyone had done for me in so long. And after that case, nobody seemed to care. I was packed up in that funny farm and left to die there. Nobody came. All I wanted was to see my friend. I wanted to see you come around that corner so bad. And you never came. At that point I wasn’t sure what I would’ve paid more for….my husband to come back from the dead, or to be able to see your smile and to hear you tell me that you would fix it and it would all be better by morning. I wanted you to come and get me. And you weren’t there. There were days that I would’ve sworn I heard your voice just as I was waking up, and I’d open my eyes and see those damned white walls again. I just didn’t care anymore. I was ready to die there. I’d lost my family, and you still hated me…I had nothing left.”

“I’m here now though. And Jake’s out. Soon as I heard about it I turned in my badge and my gun. I couldn’t be a very good town sheriff if I was never there.”

Alecta looked at him in a funny way. It was clear she had no clue what he was getting at.

“What the hell are you babbling about now man? Speak plainly.”

“I promised you a long time ago that he’d never get near you again. You remember that?”

“We were 10, I think.”

“Yes. And I promised you that if we ever got him away from you he’d never get near you again.”

“We’re not 10 anymore Kevin. We’re not pinky swearing an oath. You were the town sheriff, it’s what you loved. Things are more dangerous once you dig beneath the surface; it’s not as simple as it once was.”

“I made a promise. You still have the coin I gave you don’t you? I know you do. I know that you’ve likely kept every little thing I ever gave you.”

Alecta indicated that he should follow her, which he did. They walked out into the living room and she walked over to the cabinet that had grabbed Morgan’s attention from the word GO. Alecta opened the door on   
the lower compartment and pulled out a small box. It was an old silver box, highly decorative. She opened it, and it softly played an old tune.

“That’s odd. It hasn’t actually played a note in close to 30yrs. and I open it often; anyway.”

Alecta fished out the coin in question. It was an old coin, Pre-Revolutionary. She handed it to Kevin.

“That’s my girl. See I still know you. After everything, you still haven’t changed that much.”

“Yeah, well do you still have his uniform?”

“I’ve kept everything. It’s still in the ‘secret’ room beside the fireplace in the ball room.”

“And did Col. Mustard do it in the library with the candlestick? What the hell are we talking about here?”

Alecta couldn’t help but laugh a little until the few tears that had been clinging on for dear life finally fell down her cheeks. 

“And that, Kevin, is Agent Rossi.”

“Dear girl, what seems to be going on?”

Alecta looked around. All eyes were on her, it made her feel terribly uncomfortable. She practically hid behind Kevin; which when you consider that he was 6’4 and at least 225lbs of mostly muscle, that wasn’t hard to achieve. 

 

“Her father is out of prison, and looking for her.”

“Davis?”

“Hotch, it’s nothing. Kevin’s just being a bit over protective. He probably won’t even…”

“Lex, don’t even try it. You work with profilers that can smell a lie a mile away. And you were never a good liar anyway. I’m going to be your shadow until I find out what is going to happen.”

“Dude, you can’t. Hotch, what if I have to go out in the field again during the time that this seems to be an issue. You’d have to get special dispensation from the battle-ax herself.”

“Maybe I can’t join you out in the field, but, while you’re here in town….I will be all over you.”

“Oh my God. You’re as unbelievable as this one.” Alecta pointed at Derek. “Meet your brother from another mother. Dinner better be ready soon.”

Eventually they were sitting down to dinner around the huge table. It was ‘normal’ food. In light of the situation, the girls had made a meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, and those little green peas.   
They cut up some cucumbers and onion in a bowl of vinegar…the whole nine yards…The girls knew it was some of Alecta’s favorite food as well as Kevin’s for that matter, and that it had been quite some time since   
she last had a decent meal like that. In light of the situation, it was needed.

Kevin sat next to Alecta. She poured him a drink of soda into his cup and drank the foam off of the top while he made her a sweet tea to drink. Next, he helped her pick out all the onion from her cucumbers and piled them on his plate…when the girls had fixed the chicken, one of them ‘accidently’ put a piece of the breast on Alecta’s plate. Everyone knew she only liked the dark meat. Through the first half of dinner Alecta   
and Kevin sat there switching out their meal like it was a well-oiled assembly line. 

Both of the federal teams sat there and watched in mute fascination as they continued on as though it was normal. They even moved in synch when they would lift their utensils to put more food in their mouths.

As Alecta and Kevin were chewing some bits of chicken, they happened to notice that everyone was watching them.

“What?” They asked in unison with puzzled looks on their faces.

Hotch merely shook his head and chuckled. 

“And we thought that Garcia and Morgan were bad enough,’ Prentiss commented.

“AAschew!” Alecta sneezed hard

“Some of the foam go up your nose again baby?”

Alecta could only nod as she left the table to go into the bathroom to blow her nose. 

Dinner was in full swing when the doorbell sounded again; by this time, Alecta had rejoined the party.

“I’ll get it mum,’ Kong made a move to answer the door.

As Kong stepped aside to allow the two young women in that were in the hall everyone watched as Alecta’s face changed.

“This can’t be good; the two of you never leave Las Vegas.”

“Won’t you introduce us?’ JJ wanted to know.

“Meet Cinnamon and Moira. They are the other two co-founders of the sisterhood with me.”


	14. Who Are You? Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More skeletons fall out of the closet. S&M dungeon...What? Yes, I meant to spell Cinnamon wrong in a couple places.

The two young women came a little more fully into the room. Alecta got up to hug them both. Cinnamon and Moira were both nearly head and shoulders taller than Alecta and probably out-weighed her by a good 15-20lbs. (most of that being due to their height). They were looked physically fit though, in quite good shape. Kong and Mac pulled up two more chairs to the table and the two women sat on the right side of Alecta.

Reid’s curiosity was killing him, anyone could see this. He was a doctor, but he was still one of the nosiest people you could ever meet; not in a bad way. It was actually quite funny to watch him tamp down the questions in his head. ‘If I keep pushing, will his head explode,’ Alecta wondered to herself.

Finally when Reid could stand it no longer, “How long have you known Davis?”

“M, I got this. Since she was 15 almost 16. Lady Heather brought her to work at the dungeon. We have never seen so many men get whiplash at one time. It was actually quite funny.”

“Dungeon? What kind of d-dungeon?”

Moira giggled a little bit before answering in an Irish accent.

“A fetish/S&M dungeon. It’s where we all worked.”

Alecta nearly choked to death, strangling on her drink, when Moira just left it at that….the looks that she was getting from both teams….Tony was grinning, the pervert in him was just dying. She was pretty sure the two old goats were having palpitations. Hotch looked disturbed. Morgan looked curious, and disturbed that he was curious. Reid and JJ were kind of taken aback. Prentiss gave a ‘Rock On’, thumbs up…apparently she always figured there was an edge to that sweet face on Alecta. And Abby just sort of popped her in the shoulder, ‘You never said’….And Gibbs, Gibbs took it all in stride. Kevin was patting Lex on the back to keep her from dying of choking.

With her eyes watering from the effort of getting her functions under control, Alecta finally spoke.

“Damn Moira, if you’re gonna tell a story, tell it right.”

“I did.”

“Don’t you dare act all innocent with me.”

“But what did I do?”

Cinnamon shook her head, ‘Moira, really?”

“Look. It’s not what you think. I didn’t ‘work’ in the dungeon, per se. I worked in the office for Lady Heather. All I did was a little book-keeping and appointment setting. I rarely, if ever had any sort of business in the   
dungeon itself.”

“Well not after that first time she brought you in. Heather walked you through the front door and, before she could get you to her office, you had thrown up. Twice. After that she had a key made to the back entrance so you could skip the show.”

“What made you throw up about being in the dungeon?” 

“Um, well….it’s a long stor….”

“It reminded her a bit too much of her father.”

All heads at the table turned to look at where the voice came from. Morgan looked confused. It had come from Garcia. His eyebrows scrunched together in his confusion. Garcia managed to blush a deep red in the   
cheeks, she figured that had just left her wide open. But she had to draw some of the heat off of Lex. Even Moira and Cinnamon were a little dumbfounded that Garcia had said even that much. She never opened her mouth about her past; everyone in their group knew that.

Hotch chimed in, ‘Davis, what does she mean by that?”

“Um. Well. My daddy had a dungeon in our basement at home. It’s where he and his friends would take some of the women they’d bring home. I never saw them come back out…..” Alecta looked down and at her   
plate. Suddenly she didn’t feel so hungry, her stomach hurt so bad right now.

And of course Morgan would ask the obvious question for him, ‘Baby Girl, how would you know that?”

“Morgan, we’re part of the same group. We’ve met more than once; it stands to reason that at some point in time we would’ve talked about things in our past.” Alecta answered for Garcia, hoping she could sway him to drop it. It’s the least she could do for Pen. The Agnes’s were good at this kind of verbal volley ball match. Keep the opposing side so confused that they don’t know what questions to ask or who to ask them of. Another key to survival in the group was being able to have a certain level of telepathy. You had to plan out all possible avenues of discussion, especially if you opened the can of worms. You had to think carefully of what you wanted to say, anticipate the reaction of your listener, and then come up with all suitable responses to anything they might throw at you. Over the years, Alecta had gotten damned good at the telepathy game. But then again, this was her first time playing the game with a table full of professionals. Profilers did this sort of thing for a living.

“Baby Girl?”

“Hot Stuff?”

“You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?”

“Garcia, don’t play dumb, you’re no good at it.”

“Morgs, baby, we’ll talk later.” Much later if Garcia had her way about it…much, much later, like the day after never.

“Ok, baby. You have to ride home with me anyway.”

Garcia’s eyes got huge and she shot a look to Alecta, begging her to do something. Alecta nodded calmly back to her. The quick exchange wasn’t lost on Hotch, Gibbs, or Rossi. 

“Honey, how did you meet this, Lady Heather?”

“Here we go. By the time I reached Las Vegas, I had run almost totally out of money. I didn’t have more than about $10 to my name at that time. I didn’t have enough money to even get a flea-bag motel room. I had   
to sleep on the bench at the train station for about three days. I held on to those last ten bucks like my life depended on it. I needed to make sure I could buy at least a little something to eat soon. I hadn’t run crazy with the money. I bought train tickets, food, and the occasional motel room when I really needed a bed to sleep in…..not that I ever really slept much. The nightmares, they were so bad sometimes. And here I was in the middle of Las Vegas, with $10 and a train station bench as my new home. By day three I was so hungry I could’ve taken a hostage, but I had to be careful. I didn’t have a job, and what then?  
Lady Heather was walking through the station and saw me asleep, my head resting on my bag, arms wrapped around it to keep it from being stolen. She asked the station attendant what my story was…he told her that he’d watched me for days, just living on that bench. That nobody ever came for me or anything. She came and woke me up. I wasn’t even afraid of her. Can you imagine, me, not afraid of a total stranger….”  
Alecta paused and let the thought sink into Kevin’s mind. And he realized she was right. As kids, whenever someone approached them and asked her anything Kevin was the one that had to do all the talking. Alecta hadn’t lied when she said she’d been damn near a mute when they were kids. She rarely ever talked, never to strangers or people she was uncomfortable around (which was nearly everyone). Hell at one time she would barely say more than two words to his parents, and they had been the ones to petition the courts for custody of her. Kevin was just about the only person she EVER spoke to, and that didn’t happen as often as he wished it would.

“There was just something about her…her eyes. It’s like she knew all she needed to know without asking me the first question. It was damned unnerving at first. But it was sort of nice all at the same time. She didn’t ask any questions that I was afraid to answer. She took me to her home, fed me, and gave me a place to sleep. She gave me a job, only on weekends, because she enrolled me in high school. She used the excuse that I was a younger cousin and a few thousand dollars and got me in, no questions asked. Of course it might have had something to do with the fact that the principal was one of her best customers. For the first time in…for the only time in my life…I had a home. I could go to sleep in my own bed and not lay awake waiting for someone to come in and put their hands on me. It didn’t stop the nightmares; it actually made them worse for a spell. Because now, with all that time freed up to actually sleep it also left my mind open to have all these thoughts about all those things….  
Lady Heather never once made a big deal out of being woke up in the dead of night when I would wake up screaming my lungs out. She just came in, wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tight, rubbing my back and talking to me…whispering I don’t know what…I almost felt like I had a mother again. It was nice. I missed my momma so much, nobody would ever know how much. I worked my ass off in school. If Heather was going to be so good to me, I was going to make it worth her trouble. I didn’t party a lot in school. I didn’t really have any friends. I didn’t want any. I had Lady Heather to take care of me, that was all I wanted….just someone to take care of me.

I didn’t care for the dungeon. It made me think about daddy and those years at the house….I eventually told her all about it, it was the least I owed her. If she was going to sit up with me at night after another nightmare, the least I could do was be honest. 

But like Cinnamon said, Heather gave me a key to the rear entrance, so I didn’t have to worry much about the dungeon. I met these two because they would come in the office from time to time to settle some business affairs with Heather, or to double check the appointment logs, etc.”

“Moira decided we needed to watch the kid’s back. The first time she came to the place, nearly every ‘dom’ in the dungeon took notice. Especially since that one time that dude Skeevy gagged you, hog tied you, and was about to close the trunk lid of his car with you in it. And why are you looking at me like I’m from outer space? You know he did. She would’ve been a lot of fun for them…she was small and compact…most of them were kinda big guys…tall, like you,’ Cinnamon indicated to Kevin.

“Yeah, but they hadda learn the hard way not to mess with our Angel girl.” Moira chuckled.

“How so?” JJ finally was interested; this may explain some of the ‘lethal’ bit.

Cinnamon just laughed. “Well one of the big dudes, we call him Sky, he’s almost as big as Kong…he had a habit of always trying to come on to her. He had no idea that she was only about 15. And at first she tried really hard to be polite with telling him to back off. One day though he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her like he was going to carry her off….about the time he regained consciousness and realized he was looking at the ceiling, he decided he had made a grave mistake. After that little episode he actually became good friends with her. Of course so did Big Ben and Paul. Both of them took their chances trying to get over on her, meeting with similar results.”

“How were you able to get out of that?”

“Tony, would you like me to show you?” Alecta smiled sweetly at him. Ziva snickered at the face Tony pulled.

“Yeah, Tony, go for it.”

“McGeek, stay out of it.”

“I can use Kong; you don’t even have to break a sweat.”

Alecta stood from the table, and moved over to an open space in the living room area. She stood facing the table, but was several feet away. Kong approached from behind, wrapping his arms around her tightly. At   
his slight tug backwards, letting her know he was ready, Alecta used her stomach muscles to pull her legs up and lower them around Kong’s neck. With the center of gravity shifted, Alecta sat up and tightened her legs around Kong’s neck. As he began to fade out and stagger a bit, Alecta swayed her arms in small circular motions and got him totally off balance. With that done she leaned forward, tucking herself under him, going between his legs and flipping him over as he hit the floor. This maneuver planted him squarely on his back and she was able to get up to her knees. As she got to her knees, Alecta pulled her lower limbs out   
from under Kong, wincing from the pain to her ankle as she did so….

“It would’ve gone something like that. Um, minus the busted ankle…that bit made it less than impressive.”

“Dude, you took down a guy nearly three times your size. That was pretty impressive.”

“Thanks. You think? The guys always said I had killer legs.”

“Up ya go darlin’,’ Kevin lifter her up under her arms and settled her back in her chair.

“But, what about poor, sweet Kong, mommy?” Emma asked.

That was Emma. She was always worried about everybody else. Sofie would stomp dramatically into a room and rave about the world around her. Emma would quietly observe and then ask about how your day was.   
They were two perfect sides to the same coin; two completely different sides of Alecta’s own personality. She never thought that they could be more like her.

“Silly. Mommy just made him take a nap.” Sofie interjected getting a chuckle from Mac and the girls.

Emma wasn’t satisfied. She jumped down out of her chair and ran over to the mastodon, and sat in the floor stroking his forehead and hair until he opened his eyes.

“Why did mommy make you take a nap?” she asked as he regained consciousness.

“Is ok little Emma, she was merely showing her friend something about the way she fights.” Kong answered her gently as he sat up.

“Mommy, don’t make Kong take no more naps, ok.”

Alecta could tell that Emma was starting to get upset. Emma loved Kong to bits. He was her pal, she loved him so very much and she hated to think of him hurt, even a scratch. 

“Ok, baby.” Alecta stood back up and went over and hugged Kong and apologized, which seemed to placate her daughter for the time being. While Emma was attached to Kong, Sofie loved Mac. He was always telling her some kind of tall tale, and she would hang off every word, especially since he had that lovely Scottish brogue that would absolutely hypnotize you if you let it. But Alecta’s friend Kevin was running a close second to both men. He was closing in on their lead, slowly but surely.

As Alecta got back into her chair from schmoozing with Kong, it hit her that she really didn’t know why the girls, Cinnamon and Moira had come, she’d never really asked them. She knew it wasn’t good news, but she’d never cleared it up.

“Uh, Cimmonan….my dear girl…what brings the two of you here. To Quantico?”

“Back this train up. Who shoved you in the trunk of their car?” Gibbs and Hotch finished the question at the same time.

“Oh God! They’re in stereo! “

“Alecta.” Rossi’s voice contained a warning tone.

“Dude! It was once. Skeevy had a thing for me. He couldn’t take no for an answer….he didn’t get very far….”

“Only because Sky happened to see you leave the building. He had told you around 1,000 times not to walk out to your car without him. He knew Skeevy was angling for trouble. But you’re Lex, and sometimes that’s easy to forget. You were going home early that night. You were actually supposed to have a date with Sky…he’d finally talked you into it after months. He saw you leaving the building….he grabbed his duffle bag and took off down the back steps not even 5 minutes behind you. By the time he got to the parking lot, there was only about two inches left before Skeevy had the trunk lid shut.”  
Moira had been sitting there nodding in agreement and memory, then she spoke up. “I had never actually seen Sky come so close to killing someone with his bare hands until that day.”

“And that is why we’re still friends. Now can we get back to my question? I love the two of ya to death, ya know that. But what are ya’ll doing here?”

Moira looked down and away, like she didn’t really want to talk about it. It must really be bad if Moira choses to keep her trap shut.

Cinnamon simply sighed. Moira was always so chatty, but let bad news be on the horizon and it was Cinnamon that had to do the talking.

“Sky is missing, more under-cover than missing. But, then of course, so is Rachel.” Cinnamon braced for the shit storm as did Moira. They just weren’t sure which fact would make Alecta the most upset.

“W-what…what do you mean Rachel is missing?” 

“Missing—as in we can’t find her.”

“Shut up Moira, I know the definition of the word,’ Alecta turned on her just about as quickly as she had Kevin when he first arrived.

“Honey, I don’t know. She didn’t check in the other day. We’ve lit up the usual bat-bitch signals, but nothing…not a word. Nobody has heard from her it seems.”

“Sweet heart, who’s Rachel?” Kevin asked calmly. He had a feeling he knew, he’d seen Alecta’s eyes when she heard that this Rachel was missing.

Alecta got up from the table. If she had any doubts in her mind before, she knew 100% that she wasn’t hungry. She walked over to the doors that led out into the court yard. Right now, in this instant, that beautiful garden didn’t give her any solace, none.

She shut her eyes tightly as a few damnable tears escaped.

“Lex don’t do this. Who’s Rachel darling?” Kevin tried to prod again.

Without turning around, Lex answered in a voice nearly choked with tears, ‘our daughter, Kevin. Rachel is our daughter.”


	15. Who Are You? Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One word: ANGST.

“Wait. When did we have a daughter?”

“WE didn’t have anything. I had her a few months after I left. When I first left I had no idea I was carrying her, none whatsoever. It hadn’t been long since I had lost the baby that belonged to daddy.”

“And I’m just now hearing about this?” Kevin began to sound angry.

Alecta didn’t back down, she got right back into his face just as fast.

“DON’T YOU DARE MAKE ME THE BAD GUY; I tried to tell you.”

“When?”

Alecta had an incredulous look on her face like he had just smacked her.

“For two years Kevin, TWO YEARS….from the time I had her and found out she was definitely yours I started sending you letters. Every month I wrote you two letters….I tried calling once or twice a month. As soon as you heard my voice you slammed the phone down in my ear. You returned EVERY single letter I ever wrote, UNOPENED! You think I’m lying, here ya go.”  
Alecta reached into a shoe box and threw a stack of sealed, yellowing envelopes at him. They cascaded to the floor; Kevin was only able to catch a few of them.

“Twenty four letters. Twenty four phone calls. I got nothing. I wrote to your parents. I would send them pictures on rare occasions that I could afford to have any taken. Just because you were being a dick to me didn’t mean I had to deny them the right to somehow get to know their grandchild. They always tried to write back, and send cards, that sort of thing. They never came to visit, that would have been too obvious that something was up.

So you can sit here on your damned knees praying with the old man if you want. But me…I’m getting my baby back.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“Don’t bother. I raised her without so much as a penny from you, nothing. You weren’t there. I loved you with every bone in my body. I loved you ‘til my chest just ached, because I knew you hated me so much.  
You never once sent a birthday card to her. You missed her first steps. You missed her saying ‘mama’ for the first time. When she lost her first tooth, you were nowhere to be found. I think she was eight when she asked me why you were never around. She wanted to know if she had been a very bad girl and that’s why you stayed away. I had to tell her ‘No. Mamma did something so bad a long time ago that daddy hates her for it and choses to stay away.’ I let her believe it was my fault, because all I knew was that it wasn’t her fault. I always gave her pictures of you, so she knew what you had looked like. I told her that you were in the police and you caught bad guys, sort of like mommy did. I never once lied to her.

You weren’t there when she was three or four and came down with Scarlett Fever so bad, we both got it. You can call Lady Heather…there for a while the doctor really thought he’d have to bury us both. I had made arrangements that, if anything happened to me, Lady Heather and Sky were to take care of Rachel. I told Heather to do whatever she had to do to let you know that you had a child, once I was gone. I didn’t want you to have to deal with seeing or talking to me if you didn’t want to.

I worked my fingers to the bone…I worked until my fingers bled sometimes just to make sure that child had the life I never had. There wasn’t even one day where she went hungry…she never had to eat sleep for supper….she never had clothes that were in ill repair. Her shoes never fell apart as she walked. She had a bath every day; even if she hated it, because I knew what it was like to not have a mother to take care of me. 

There were days I couldn’t go anymore and yet I had no choice. I had to keep going. Yes I had help along the way. Lady Heather was wonderful to me. When I went under–cover for those two years, she took Rachel back into her home for the time being. Yuri, my husband, was helping out on the case and I thought that with both of us gone the girl needed something familiar to her…Lady Heather was it. Sky was the father that she needed at the time since you were not. Yuri was good to her. When I went into the funny farm she continued to stay with Heather. She only came to visit me once…I didn’t want her there…that’s not the kind of place for children.

Don’t you understand? I needed you then, and you were too hung up on your pain from me leaving….I didn’t ask for you to come now. The last time I called you…the last miscarriage that I had, when I lost the only other son I ever had….I called you in tears, I had just woke in the hospital to find that my baby was dead….I was never going to get to hold him or even hear him cry. You told me that you never wanted to hear a thing from me again and that you wished I would never try to call you again. You made it abundantly clear that whatever love or care you ever had for me when we were kids was long since dead. So, go home to your mom and dad. Hug them; tell them I’m doing fine. Find some nice normal girl that deserves you; because you’ve done nothing in the last 25 years but point out the glaring reasons why I do not.” 

With that Alecta turned and grabbed her crutches out of the corner and hopped out of the room sobbing. Kong and Mac just glared at Kevin. Derek was doing a pretty stellar job of burying Kevin with the look in his eyes.

“Good job there, Junior. Are you happy now?”

Rossi was the only one that could form a sentence properly.

“You’re a mean man Mr. K.” Emma was livid. Apparently so was Sofie, she walked up and kicked him in the shins as hard as she could.

“You made my mommy cry!’ Sofie shrieked, becoming more furious as the seconds ticked by.

Before the little girl could do any real damage to herself or to Kevin, Immogene came to pick her up and carried her out into the court yard. She held her close, whispering to her. The little girl bawled her eyes out.

“Mommy was s’pose a be happy when she gots away from daddy. And he made mommy even more sad than she was before.”

The little girl was just beside herself with the tears. Emma had tears streaking down her face too, but she wasn’t as broken over it all as Sofie seemed to be. Emma just quietly walked away.

“Where are you going sweet heart?” Prentiss and Hotch stopped her.

“I gotsa go find my mommy. I gotsa make ‘er better.” 

“Why don’t you stay with mommy’s big friends, and I’ll go find her and see if I can make her better.”

Emma just looked at Emily as she spoke, trying to weigh her options. She must have decided it was a good idea because she just nodded her head and looked back toward her sister. The little girl was torn as to what to do.

Hotch gave Emily the go-ahead to go in search of Alecta. 

“If you are going to find her quickly, you must first go by the pool. I can show you the way.” Lakshmi offered in her gently accented English. She bowed her head quickly as she turned to lead the way for Emily.

When they got to the room that contained the indoor pool for the compound, Emily began searching for her. It didn’t take long. Alecta had managed, somehow, to get onto the diving board and was laying on it, looking down into the water. She seemed to be contemplating how things had gone so wrong.

Meanwhile back in the living room of the home the others were gathered trying to make sense of it all.

Hotch was on the phone with the director of the FBI, Rossi was softening up Strauss as only he could. JJ was on the phone with her contacts. Penelope was on her laptop starting whatever searches she might know   
to use that the others hadn’t thought of yet.

“Garcia?”

“Ziva?”

“Is there a way for you to check if there’s been any activity around the ports? Any spikes in cargo ships from Eastern Europe?”

“I can try. Good idea.”

“What are you thinking Agent David?”

“Well, earlier in the evening, something was said about one of the children noticing a man with strange tattoos…tattoos with funny letters, the child said. She said they matched the letters on her mother’s back or shoulder. And if Davis had been undercover against sex traffickers from Russia; that should be the first place that we look. I will call my father and see if he can offer any assistance.”  
Reid nodded his head in agreement. Garcia started handing him paperwork that she was printing off so he could skim it. Oona and Theo were getting the weapons loaded and packed; they were getting ready for whatever happened.

Emily had gotten Alecta down off of the diving board and sat with her on the concrete surround for the pool and wrapped her arms around Alecta as the little woman sobbed her eyes out. This wasn’t one of those ‘cute girl’ cries. This was the kind of cry that should’ve ripped her in half. All she kept mumbling through her tears was that it was happening all over again and that it would never be over. Eventually, Alecta had calmed down enough that, with Emily’s help, she was able to get back to her living room/command center.

“Agent Hotchner, our director has sent a message that we are to aid in any way possible to help resolve this issue.”

“Thank you, Agent Gibbs.”

Kevin had sat down on the sofa, trying his best to wrap his head around the fact that he had a 24, nearly 25 year old daughter that he had never met, and now he may never get the chance. He also thought about every word that Alecta had seethed at him tonight, from the moment he got in the door. It boiled down to one thing…she was right. He had been acting like a total dick ever since the day that she walked out. He knew that she had been through sooo much more that he hadn’t even heard about yet, but now wasn’t the time; and if he didn’t do a complete 180, he would never get to hear the rest of her story. From the sounds of things, she had a lot to get out. And her daughters, what must they be going through right now. 

‘Man up and pull your head out of your ass K,’ Kevin demanded of himself. This was his girl. He had been away for far too long. He was going to help whether she wanted him to or not. He needed to meet his daughter and let her know that his absence was no fault of hers or her mothers. It was his. He had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that, although they were rushing to save Rachel, it would turn into a mission to rescue Alecta in a moment’s notice.


	16. Who Are You? Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Very little angst this chapter. But Alecta does get to vent some pent up frustrations. PS: When I originally wrote this story, Director David (Ziva's dad) hadn't been killed off on NCIS yet.

Emily came back into the room with Alecta following her on her crutches. 

“Garcia, what have you found out about suspect cargo ships?”

“Not that much Lex. It all seems quiet.”

“We need access to the video feeds. Damn…No, we need surveillance on any of the cargo ships from Eastern Europe; the Balkans, Czech Republic. If you see something from the UAE flag it as a possibility.   
Immogene, get on the horn to some of your former colleagues and pop quiz them.”

“Davis.”

“JJ?”

“Do you know an Illya….?”

“Dubrovsky.” Alecta and JJ said the surname almost in exact unison.

“That son of a bitch!”

Alecta was so angry that she threw her crutches across the room, causing them to hit the wall.

Her anger ratcheted up notch after notch just saying the man’s name. Hotch was watching her carefully, as was Rossi. Even the unflappable Gibbs was concerned she might totally blow a gasket. Rossi was the only   
one that had any dare to walk up and question her.

“Lex, what’s going on?”

“I told that bastard that the next time we crossed paths….” She was muttering to herself almost, not even paying attention to the fact that Rossi had asked her a question.

“He may be behind this, but you’ll have to find him; seems that little ferret has gone into hiding.”

“If he’s responsible for this, and I would bet my life he’s got something to do with it, he better hide!”

“If he’s hiding out, how are we supposed to….” Reid had started a question, but never got to finish it; Alecta’s head snapped up, it was clear that she had an idea.

“What is it Davis?”

“Sir, I know how to find him.”

“And how, pray tell, would you manage to come by such information?”

“There’s a moderate sized Russian neighborhood close by, yes? There’s at least one low end watering hole there. The bottom feeders that frequent the spot will know something.”

“You’re sure about this?”

“Sir, it’s the best we can do right now. Do you trust me?”

“We’re trying to help you find your daughter; it’s us that should be asking you that question.”

“Touché. But my methods are slightly…um, out of bounds.”

“But isn’t it you that said that you have carte blanche?”

“Very good old man. Yes, I do. I just know that the boss man likes to play by the book whenever possible. I look at the book as more like guidelines.”

“What do you need from us?”

“Back up. Ziva, you’re with us for now.”

“Of course.”

“Theo, I want either you or Oona to stay here, in the flat. Tell security to keep their eyes peeled. Shoot first and ask later.”

“Business as usual then?” 

Alecta only nodded. Oona volunteered to stay in the flat with the children. Lakshmi and Zaheer agreed to help with that task. The old Orthodox Patriarch was brought into the family wing for safety. 

“Have you all become familiar with the secret passages that lead away from the building?” Alecta asked as she chose weapons to carry with her on her journey.

The four young women indicated that they had, as well as most of the older children.

“Kong, you’re with me. Mac you stay, lead the security team. Ivory, what have you got for me?”

“Just a little care package. Placed right, Little Russia will have a new parking lot in the morning.”

“Awsome.”

Meanwhile, the BAU team, as well as Gibbs’ team had gotten themselves pulled together to get ready to roll.

“Davis, what can you tell us about your daughter?”

“Well sir…She was a member of the Coast Guard for a while. She started out in BLET, thinking she wanted to become a police officer the way Kevin and I both started out; he went on to become town sheriff, and   
well, you know my story. But then she decided that the Guard was more her speed. I woulda joined myself, but I have a thing about someone barking orders at me all day. So not my style. She was good at it. But she   
recently, within the last year or so, left it. She wanted to have a normal life on land. That and she met a guy, she wanted to settle down…well as much as being one of my Agnes’s would let her settle. Physically; she’s   
5’10, blonde hair, blue eyes….Amazon Barbie.”

“Wait, she’s one of you…does that mean…?”

“No Dr. Reid. She never had to live through many of the things I did. I suffered so she wouldn’t have to. She got her spot by default. I had hoped to leave the family business to her when I got out of it….”

“What do you mean?”

“K, I’m getting too old for this. I’m tired, so very tired. Do you know how many bones I’ve broken over the years, present injuries not withstanding? I work with it all day at my regular job, and then, I have to flip the   
record over and do it again with the Agnes’s. I am mentally and physically tired. I don’t know how many more fights I have left in me. Something’s gotta give.”

With a quick sniff, she turned to walk out of the room, Tony helping to support her weight a bit and keep it off of her ankle. 

They all got into the SUV’s out in the drive way. By a walky-talky system they were able to communicate between the vehicles. Alecta let them know what was going to happen when they got there.

Upon arrival, Alecta got down out of the SUV and made her way to the front of the building.

“Door.” She flatly stated.

Kong stepped in front of her and kicked the door almost completely off of its hinges with one shot, as the door fell to the ground, Alecta kept walking scooting past Kong as she did so. The men inside started to   
scatter around the room. With her weight balanced on her good leg, Alecta used her damaged foot to shove a chair over to the bar. Once it was close enough to suit her she walked the best she could over to it,   
Kong helping her step into the chair and up onto the bar, kicking at some of the glasses and bottles that littered the top as she went. She stopped just short of kicking over a large bottle with a corked lid; it was in a   
funny container. It was likely an illegal item, something like ‘real’ Cuban cigars. She grabbed the neck of the bottle, brought it to her mouth, bit into the cork to remove it, then spit it out, taking a swig.

“God that’s good.” She sat down on the bar top as she took a second drag of the unknown liquid. The bartender made a stupid decision to try to move from his spot just diagonally behind her. As soon as he   
flinched she whipped out a large dagger from nowhere and jabbed it through the back of his hand into the bar top, wiggling it for effect.

“You’re the bartender; you know everything about everyone, kinda like the barber up the street. By the by, Tony, make an appointment with him while it’s on my mind. Now where was I? Oh, yes…you. You have   
information, I have questions, we should talk.”

“And what if I don’t?”

“I don’t really care. You’re all dead men anyway. But I’m offering you a chance to lighten your burden; ease your mind a bit. You can meet your God with a little breathing room in your conscience.”

One of the other men in the room went to make a move and say something vulgar in Russian.

Turning to him, ‘You have stars on your knees, do you not?” Seeing the man stop in response to her question, ‘Boys and girls we have a high ranking member of the Russian mob in our midst. He has stars on his   
knees…that means he doesn’t kneel to anyone. Isn’t that right?”

The man kept watching her, saying nothing.

“Let’s see what we can do about that.”

Kong and Immogen both took shots at his knee caps simultaneously, causing the man to hit the floor. 

“Now, you stay here and let my offer percolate, I’m gonna go talk to our friend.” Alecta put down the bottle she’d been drinking off of, patting the bartender on the cheek, and slid down off the bar.

“Oh you poor baby, tsk tsk. Him fall down and get hurt. How sad. Now, are you ready to behave?”

“What do you want to know?”

“Atta boy. Illya Dubrovsky, where is he?”

“Go to hell?”

“I was there once for two years, it bores me.” Alecta stood over the man, putting pressure on one of his injured knees with her foot. Hearing him scream in agony she just laughed. Another man in the room went to   
make a move, Ziva leveled him with a few swift moves.

“I can do this all day. But I just don’t have the patience for it. The fact that your mob family has someone that is here tells me all I need to know.” She looked at some of the tattoos around his neck and hands for any   
identifying features. 

“You’re dead if they catch you.”

“You idiot. She cannot be killed. Have you not heard the stories?” one of the bar patrons managed to say.

“You know your urban legends. I’m touched. Since you seem to be a bit more intelligent…Illya, where is he?”

This man cooperated a bit faster. He gave up the last known location that he thought Dubrovsky could be found at.

“Let that one go. He’s not a part of this; at least, not at this time.”

The information led them to a ‘chop shop’ about a block or two away. Illya wasn’t there, but they did pick up a possible acquaintance of his along the way. They led the man back to the local PD and set him down in   
interrogation. 

Hotch, Morgan, Rossi, and Gibbs stood in the observation room watching the man; Alecta came in.

“I want to question him.”

“I don’t know if that is such a smooth idea.”

“Morgan, do you speak Russian fluently?”

“Well, no.”

“I do,’ Gibbs stated.

“Shouldn’t one of us interrogate him?”

“I don’t care who’s in there. I could give a shit about that. But I want a crack at him one way or the other.”

“You want her in there.” Gibbs told them flatly.

“Just give me a few minutes with him and I’ll have him confessing to killing Kennedy.”

“Which one?” Hotch asked.

Alecta shrugged, ‘The dead one.” With that she walked right straight into the interrogation room, Hotch was behind her. Gibbs and the others would be there if things got out of hand, but Hotch thought maybe   
she’d be more comfortable with someone from her own team there with her.

Alecta sat at the table, propping her feet casually up on a corner of the table, whipping out a nail file and began to file her nails, feigning disinterest. Hotch sat down from her a little bit. The suspect had been   
sitting directly across the table from them; his position would make it look like he was between them. Upon seeing Alecta come into the room, the suspect jumped up so fast that he knocked his chair backwards; he   
was spouting something in Russian.

“Gibbs what is he saying?”

“He’s yelling ‘Get me out of here, I will not talk to her….’”

“But that’s not all of it, is it?”

“No Rossi it’s not. He also says she is a devil and that she is undead. He keeps yelling over and over that he will not talk to her.”

“Earlier at the bar, one of the men made the comment that she couldn’t be killed. She said it was an urban legend…..What’s going on?”

“Well, he was right. As many times as her life’s been in danger, and she’s still alive….Let’s hear what they have to say gentlemen, shall we?”

The man in interrogation seemed to really fear her; he was in a steady panic.

“What did he just say there?”

“He told Hotch to take the finger nail file away from her. If he takes it away from her, he will talk. But not before.”

“He’s afraid of a finger nail file?”

“Morgan, poor sweet innocent Morgan…”

“Rossi…”

“He isn’t scared of the file. He’s terrified it will wind up buried in his jugular or his temple.”

Alecta sat there with this ‘innocent as the day she was born’ look on her face, that, if you didn’t know her, you would totally believe. 

Soon the man told Hotch, in English, what he wanted to have happen. Hotch asked for the nail file. Alecta passed it over. The man began to answer Hotch’s questions for the most part and he was quite quick about   
it. Half way through the interrogation, Alecta noticed he wasn’t cooperating as easily…besides she was getting bored. It was really starting to go around in circles, so she whipped out a different nail file and took up   
where she left off. The man went into a panic again. Laughingly she handed the file over to Hotch.

“If I promise to be a good girl, will you tell my friend what we want to know?”

“I do not believe that there is the soul of a good girl left in you. I know you. I do not believe that there is still anything good left inside of you. I hear the stories. Somebody crosses you and they wind up in the river   
by morning. I lost a cousin that way.”

“Oh yes. That’s where I remember you from. Well, sir, your cousin was an asshole that deserved everything he got. Now, my question is….Do you want to join him?”

“Davis.” Hotch warned her.

“Davis? I thought your name was Vsevlodovich. Oh that’s right. That’s right. My memory is bad. (Leaning in to taunt her) You got your family blown up. By the time the recovery effort was over the few parts they   
recovered would fit into a shopping bag.”

Alecta stood up and would have done something utterly regrettable had Hotch not stopped her; although Hotch had probably never actually seen his life flash before his eyes before that moment. 

“Let me tell you something, you filthy little pile shit. I can kill you in front of my boss, my team, the entirety of the FBI…stand in a courtroom in front of a judge, bathed in your blood…and walk out a free woman. DO   
NOT TRIFLE WITH ME! I ain’t the one you want to play with.”

With that she sat back down and let Hotch continue with the interrogation. When Hotch brought up some rather unsavory aspects of the man’s career and personal life the man became agitated. Hotch began   
pacing the room, using several different tactics on the man. At one point it got out of hand and the man lunged for Hotch. Just as the man’s hands came into contact with Hotch’s sleeve of his suit jacket, Alecta had   
sprung into action. With as much force as she could muster she jumped up from her seat and somehow grabbed the man by the back with one hand and with the other she slammed his head face first into the table   
top, surely breaking his nose, and maybe part of his jaw.

“Assaulting a federal agent was never part of the deal we worked out with you, dumbass.”

“That is alright. I will go to jail. Now you cannot release me.”

Apparently the man thought it would be safer for him in jail since it would be known in the neighborhood that he had talked to the Feds. 

“You’re so cute. You think I don’t have someone who can get to you on the inside? When you get into general population, say hello to my friend, Borislav. It’s been ever so long since I last spoke to him.”

By the time she was finished speaking some junior agents came to take the suspect away. Hotch made sure that they had someone come in and clean the blood from the suspect’s broken nose off of the table.

“Did he hurt you boss man?”

“No, but, did you really have to break his nose?”

“Sorry, sometimes I get a little….” She made a shaky gesture with her hand to indicate ‘crazy’. “But you are OK though?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Thanks for being so quick.”

Alecta went off to get something to drink.

“Did you find out anything useful?”

Hotch merely shook his head.

“We got a couple of good leads. But I don’t know how much help they really will be.”

Gibbs came back into focus at that point; he had stepped away to take a call from Director Vance.

About the same time, Alecta came back from the break room with her beverage; she seemed deep in thought.

“I might be able to turn this around for you.”

“Gibbs?”

“Vance just called. One of our teams has been sent out to investigate the deaths of several dock workers as well as Coast Guard members and the odd Naval officer or two. Somebody’s in town and they are leaving a   
trail of bodies. And he also said that there is going to be a gathering of alphabets in town tomorrow night. This is the address (showing it to the others). We are on the guest list.”

“I don’t have time to go to some stuffy party.”

Gibbs could tell she was agitated at the mere thought. Before he could respond, Rossi jumped in.

“But think of it like this. The shindig is going down in the same geographical location as the bodies are turning up. Someone knows that the feds will get involved with it. And if it’s who we think it is, they will expect   
you to be involved, just like last time. Go to the party, we all will. If there’s anyone there of any interest, we can keep our eyes on them there.”

“Besides, darling, you don’t have a choice. Director David is coming, and he has asked for you personally to attend.”

“Grrrr! That old man has the best timing. I don’t even have anything to wear to this thing.”

It was about this time that Garcia had entered the room to hand Hotch some notes that she had come across.

“Oh honey, don’t worry about it. Me, you, Prentiss, JJ…shopping tomorrow afternoon. We’ll get you something scandalous to wear.”

“Be careful. Eli is an old man. His heart is in good condition; at least it was the last time we met. But I don’t want to take my chances.”

Garcia just giggled, ‘Be ready to go by about 10:30. We can eat an early lunch before we get started.”

“Yes mama.”

Morgan just snickered.

“So something scandalous in red I assume.”

“But of course old man. If I’m going to do something, I have to do it right.” Alecta just winked as she left the room.


	17. Who Are You? Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Only a tiny bit of angst, I think....perhaps a little issue with self-esteem.

At 10:30 am, sharp, Garcia and the girls pulled up at the compound to get Alecta. Something seemed off about her when she came out to get into the car. Out of the other three women in the clique, Garcia knew her best, and even Garcia couldn’t put her finger on what the problem might be; but there was a melancholy air to her that just radiated off of her in waves. She seemed distant, not all together there…when everyone broke to go their separate ways last night, even given the latest set of circumstances, Alecta had seemed to be in decent spirits. Of course this could be chalked up to the fact that her ‘secret’ daughter was missing. Everyone assumed that any parent would be somewhat melancholy over that. It worried Garcia though; she didn’t like to see Alecta anymore beaten up emotionally than she already was on a regular basis. 

The poor woman needed a break.

They ate lunch at this great little sushi place, and Alecta was actually able to join in on the conversation and have a few laughs with the rest of them. It didn’t feel staged, even to Garcia. Penelope thought that, if this was all an act on Alecta’s part, she was damned good.

After a decent lunch, where the women flirted mercilessly with the servers they had, they hopped back in Garcia’s beloved jalopy, Esther, and made their way to the dress shop. They were all going to get knew stuff; they had to look hot tonight, it was possibly a matter of national security.

Each woman had tried on like a jillion dresses; they were wearing out the staff of the dress shop. Four women, an important government party, seven members of staff, and a room full of dresses and an unlimited credit card (courtesy of the Agnes’s deep pockets)…do the math. Alecta was getting a bit discouraged though, she hadn’t been able to find THE dress….the dress that was going to make every head in the room turn, and necks break. Ordinarily, she wouldn’t dream of dressing in such a way; she liked a certain level of anonymity, it hid the flaws and short comings she was sure she had. But, she had to dress to attract the attention of the fish they were trying to lure into the frying pan. If certain people were responsible for the disappearance of her daughter, and she would go to her grave betting they were, she wanted them to know she was there…she wanted them to see her and come after her and hopefully make a mistake. There were some that would possibly quake in fear from her mere presence, or they ought to if they knew what was good for them.

Then Prentiss saw IT…the dress to end all dresses. It had to be Ferrari Red. It had a corseted bodice with spaghetti straps and a slightly scooped neckline. The skirt was full, very full, and had gathers scattered in it to give it a draped effect. The dress was absolutely stunning.

“Um, ladies, I think I found the dress we’ve been looking for.”

JJ, Pen, and Alecta all came running as fast as they could.

“Oh, Emily, it’s gorgeous. Alecta you have to try this on.”

“Yes! This is the one.”

Alecta nodded and took the dress from Emily who had kindly gotten it down off of the rack for her. As long as the dress was, it was hung on a taller rack that she had no hope of reaching herself. The idea made her three comrades chuckle lightly; she just gave them an odd look that had ‘BITE ME’ written all over it. Once Alecta had the dress on, she knew the girls were right. This dress would stop traffic, and maybe even a few pulses. 

“Alright, I’m coming out. Just don’t laugh.” Alecta took a deep breath and exited the dressing room.

Not a soul in the shop was laughing. Everyone stopped and stared at her, even a young woman that was trying on a wedding dress took a few moments to admire the view.

Alecta saw the looks on the faces of her friends, they were hard to read. It confused her and she wasn’t sure it was in a good way.

“Well? Yes, no….? What?”

“Totally.” All three women said in unison.

“For real? You’re all sure it looks alright? I mean because…”

“Honey, you’re gonna knock ‘em dead in that dress,’ said one of the staff members from the shop. The bride nodded enthusiastically as well.

“It’s a good thing the length is about right though; damn sure enough don’t have time to do much about that.”

“The length is perfect,’ Garcia was chirping.

“Now, shoes.” Was all JJ said.

By the end of the trip JJ had picked a lovely shade of blue for a dress that brought out her eyes really well. Prentiss was in a shimmering silky green number that hugged her like a glove. Garcia was in a deep purple   
that did as much for her assets. They looked like a bag of gemstones. They all had shoes to complete the outfits. Alecta was especially proud of hers. Normally she hated wearing anything with a lot of heel to it   
because it was so damned uncomfortable; but these felt wonderful on. 

The women all went back to Alecta’s compound to get dressed; she had the most room to spare. The men were going to be there too. The boys had taken Kevin suit shopping with them.   
Alecta had asked Hotch if it would be ok that Kevin be included on this mission. It actually surprised Hotch a bit; they’d done little else but fight like cats and dogs since he showed up at Alecta’s house for dinner.   
But Alecta practically begged Hotch. She made such a sweeping argument that he couldn’t deny her. In the end, she was right. No matter how bad they had fought, her daughter, Rachel, was still very much Kevin’s child too. And, although, Kevin’s absence from the girl’s life had largely been by his own choices, if he was willing to step up and try to do something to help get her back safe and sound, Alecta couldn’t deny him.   
If she kept him from doing this one thing, she felt as though she would go down in history as one of the worst mothers to ever walk the earth. This mission might be the thing Kevin and Alecta needed to bury the hatchet between them once and for all. Both of them, their hearts had ached for so long with near hatred…they were both ready to see the end of it.  
Immogene was tasked with the duty of flat-ironing Alecta’s hair out; this was no small feat; Alecta’s hair was nearly three feet long, it hung just slightly past her hips AND it was thicker than sin. Once the hair had been straightened, Immogene had pulled the top and sides back off Alecta’s face and secured them down low, around where the nape of her neck would be located; this left it comfortably loose. Emily had initially wanted Alecta to wear it up, she lobbied hard for it. But Alecta stood fast on her arguments.

“I just don’t understand what the big deal is. I think it would be lovely piled up in some curls.”

“For one…have you ever had a migraine brought on by a hairstyle?”

Alecta watched Emily shake her head no.

“Very well then; I have had several. If we were to try to pile all of this (pointing to her mane) on top of my poor head, securing it with useless hair pins, I would have a ragging migraine in a matter of hours. Besides, I   
need it down. It helps me hide the scars and things.” Alecta said this last bit quickly and so quietly that the others had to strain to hear it.

“What scars?” JJ had to ask.

“Nothing. Just old war wounds is all.”

“You’re not getting out of it that easily. Spill it.” Emily could be a demanding little wench.

Alecta had been sitting there in a strapless bra (and whoever created this particular one deserved a medal, they were a miracle worker) and underwear that would match her gown; she looked in the mirror and caught Garcia’s gaze. A slight nod from Garcia was all she needed to know it would be ok to tell them. Taking a deep breath and shutting her eyes tight to calm her nerves Alecta used her left hand to sweep her hair over her left shoulder and reveal the damage to her back.

There was a pair of angel wings that had been carved into her back when she was about 13, her dad’s friend ‘Lucky’ had done that one day. He said he’d paid good money for his time with her, was going to damn well do as he pleased. The wings didn’t quite cover from shoulder to shoulder, and their length was only to the bottom of her shoulder blades. They weren’t huge, but they’d hurt like a son of a bitch when they were being carved in. There was an Ankh of Isis tattoo and a tattoo representation of Anubis near her right shoulder, on the back. An eye of Horus was at the base of her neck, on the back. On her left shoulder there was a brand that was in Cyrillic lettering. 

“What does that say?” JJ truly wanted to know.

“I’m not sure what the exact translation is, but it means, in a nut shell, that I was someone’s personal property…at least they thought so. They wanted to make sure that everyone else there knew it, too.”

“Is that the person that you think is behind your daughter being missing?” 

“Yes, Emily, it is. When my daughter, Sofie, said she saw a strange man with tattoos that had strange letters, it made me think that maybe these people were involved.”

“Who? The Russian mob?”

“Oh JJ, I wish it were that simple. If only….No honey. The traffickers that…from that undercover case years ago. I think what may have happened is that, Rachel, doing some investigating of her own found out they   
were back in business and she may have been in the process of trying get some help shutting them back down. Somebody sold my baby out. And when I find out who did it, there won’t be a safe place for them to hide.”

With that she turned back around and let her hair drop, Lakshmi went back to applying the make-up to Alecta’s face. By the time the girl was done with it, Alecta looked amazing. Her eyes were given a dark smoky   
treatment, her blush was minimal, and her lips were a deep fiery red. All of that coupled with her dark hair and pale skin, she was actually quite exotic looking when you get right down to it.

“Ma’ma!”

“Yes Cossette?”

“A package has come for you.”

Immogene took it and opened it, if it was something terrible perhaps she could lessen the blow.

“Ma it’s a necklace and hair band.”

Immogene brought the package over. Inside was a thin platinum headband set with tiny diamonds and rubies. There was also a matching necklace. The necklace looped around her neck and then the ends met in   
the front, resting gently on her collar bone, and dangled slightly ending in two small tear drop shaped rubies that didn’t quite meet the neckline of the dress.

“Here’s the card Ma,’ Cossette handed her a card that was written in a different language; the sight of it brought a real smile to Alecta’s face.

“Who’s it from?”

“Director David. He knows I like simple jewelry much of the time, and he also knows that if the dress is about to be a show stopper, I don’t want jewelry that will compete too hard for the attention. It would be   
almost garish otherwise.”

The men had gone ahead and left early to make it to the event and get a head start on surveillance. Alecta and the other three women from the team (as well as a few of her own) would be there before very long.

As the women crested the top of the stairs, the men of the group turned to look.

“Oh my God. I forgot just how damned beautiful she really is.”

Rossi had heard Kevin exclaim, more to himself than to anyone else. That brought a smile to the old man’s face.

Derek couldn’t resist giving Kevin a hard time, ‘Is that so?”

“She looks almost exactly the same as she did the last time I saw her, nearly 25 years ago.”

When the men looked back at Kevin, they could almost see the pain in his eyes over the fact that it had been so long, and that he had let it get to that point when she had obviously tried so hard to reach out to him. 

As the women moved more fully into the room, Kevin did his best to shake the cobwebs lose from his mind and focus on the task at hand; saving his daughter.

Just as predicted, the dress was turning heads. Or to be more accurate, Alecta in that dress was turning heads. That corseted bodice highlighted her curves better than 40 miles of bad road. Even though the length   
on the dress was perfect, the straps were a bit too large and this caused them to slide from her shoulders ever so slightly, which was quite alright, because in all reality it lent a bit to the overall effect….this near   
effortless sexuality that rolled off of Alecta in waves, that she was completely oblivious to. 

“Tony I think it would be great if you stop drooling on McGee’s shoulder now.” Ziva smiled at the dumbfounded look on his face, like her comment didn’t even register. 

“Yes, considering she will be spending much of her free time with me,’ came a heavily accented voice that belonged to none other than Director David himself.

“Eli, my friend,’ Alecta beamed without even turning around to see who it was, knowing that it was him.

“I see you got my gifts, I thought they would be a perfect match. They are in keeping with your simple style in bobbles.”

She turned, ‘They are so lovely, yes.” Alecta hugged the old man tightly to her.

“My dear, you seem like perhaps you are not entirely happy right now. What seems to be the problem?”

In brief she told him of her recent issue, her daughter’s disappearance.

“Yes. I can see why this would cause you distress. But there is something else there, what is it. Please tell me.”

“I don’t even really know, Eli. I just don’t know. Last night I was as well as you can expect under the circumstances. And then I woke up this morning feeling…” Alecta shrugged.

“Well today is a Sunday, it’s the 22 of July….’ Reid began to explain.

“Damn! I had forgotten,’ Alecta pushed out on a heavy breath. 

With that she took off trying to run, forgetting momentarily about her ankle. She needed air. She made it out onto the balcony. She was taking deep breaths trying to calm herself.

“Darling, you have to tell me what’s wrong.”

“Oh, Kevin. I forgot what today was.”

“What is it?”

“Six years ago today, I went into early labor with my second son, he belonged to Fletcher, my second husband. Fletcher had beaten me so badly that I went into labor. I was about 7 ½ months along. When my baby   
boy was born, he was dead. He had died in the womb from the injuries he received during a beating that Fletcher gave me.

I never even got to hold him. He wasn’t crying or flailing his little arms and legs. He looked like he was just sleeping. They wrapped him in a little blue blanket, they put a little cap and booties on him…but I never got to hold him. I named him Alexander, an alternate spelling for the name Olegsandr, my first born son that I had lost years before. I just wanted to hold him, just for a minute but they wouldn’t let me….” The tears were streaming down her face but she was holding it together in spite of everything. Kevin supposed that came from years of being on her own against the world; she was guarding herself the best way she knew how.

They had no idea that Hotch had come up to the door way of the balcony before he cleared his throat.

“They think they have a fix on a possible suspect.’

“Kevin do you have a…?”

Before Alecta could finish the question, Kevin whipped out a small compact mirror and held it still while she wiped her eyes with a handkerchief that he’d loaned her.

“Well I’m not a total mess yet…Come on boys. It’s like they say; the show must go on.”

With that Alecta straightened her posture, took a deep breath and walked carefully back into the ballroom and prepared to take on her greatest adversary.


	18. Who Are You? Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alecta finds her daughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost couldn't find this chapter on my memory stick. I had forgotten how I had it labelled. :D

As Alecta walked back into the ball room, aided by Kevin on her right, and Hotch following on her left, she noticed there were a few more people around her table than there had been when she left.

“Sam! G.!” she hugged her friends tightly. The grin on her face got even bigger when she looked and saw Deeks and Kensi standing nearby. “Christmas in July?”

“Actually, Christmas in July is an improbability…’ Reid got no further. Alecta turned a hairy eyeball to him with a smile on her face. “Oh, I see…”

“I have my two favorite sleeze balls and my favorite old men,’ she looked over at Rossi, Ducky, and Director David, ‘is it my birthday? Where’s Hetti?”

“Right here child.”

Alecta leaned over and hugged the smaller older woman. “I’ve missed you, Hetti.”

“We’ve missed you around the office; things are so quiet around there.”

“Yeah, nothing getting blown up…”

“Awww Deeks, did him hurt himself dodging a blast?”  
“You’re so hateful.”

“I offered to come play doctor for you, but I was told NO.”

“We needed the man back in one piece, girl.”

“I’ve never actually broken anybody….’ Seeing the look that G., Sam, and Hetti all gave her…’Ok. But it was just the one time. And he was into it.” She said with a mischievous shrug of her shoulder.

“Ok doll face, what’s the plan?” 

“Good of you to ask Rossi. Well I think I see one of the Russians over there, standing with the tramp in the sequined gown. You can’t miss her. She takes being a cheap floozy to another dimension.”

“You’ve just flirted with every single man in this clique in a matter of moments. What does that make you?”

“Oh Deeks, my darling, I’m anything but cheap. Skills like mine cost. And you don’t have the Swiss bank account to get close to them.” Alecta placed a hand on his left cheek.

“Ouch.”

“If you’re a good boy though…”

There was a clearing of a throat. 

“Sorry director Vance.”

“So do you have a real plan or is it business as usual?”

“No. Stakes are just a bit too high for me this time. I have an actual plan, well at least the first bit anyway. As I was saying, I think I see one of the men over there. I need to steal his wallet and check the identification   
in it. McGee, that’s where you’ll be handy. Once I have the wallet in my possession, I will need you to scan it to both Abby and Pen. Between the two of them, we will find out what we need to know twice as fast, and   
this way we can double check everything without stressing one of them out needlessly.”

“What if it is him?”

“That’s where Tony and Deeks will come in. I will have to lure him in. One of you will be the other man and one of you will be the ‘steady’ that catches me out here with boy toy #2. Start an argument, make it good,   
but not too good…if you’re going to tell a lie, don’t add too much detail. Ya’ll get to draw straws over who plays who, I don’t care so much about that…although I see Deeks as the ‘other man’…”

“Awww, I’m touched. You see me as more boyfriend material than Marti.”

“Just barely. Don’t get cocky. One of you grab me by the arm or something and act like you’re angry…blah blah blah. If that idiot is who I think he is, he won’t be able to resist stepping in and saying or doing   
something. He never could mind his own damned business. When the distraction is enough, I’ll snake the wallet. Then we will go back to my room. He will be under orders to keep an eye on me and track me down.”

“Getting it back to him then?”

“Prentiss. You will then go up to him and make something up about how you think it fell out of his pocket or something. You’re clever. And you’re attractive, it will dazzle him, he won’t care about much else. I would send JJ, but Emily is more his type. After we get confirmation on his ID we will go from there. I have to come up with a way to get him to lead us to the correct ship.”

“Do you think your daughter is in one of the containers?”

“Ziva, I don’t really know. I doubt that she is right this moment. But the minute we get within sniffing distance of the ship, they will try to stash her. It’ll be a huge ship. They would have to have a ship large enough   
to carry a few bogus containers filled with useless trivial stuff to disguise the true cargo.”

“If Rachel is in a container, will there be any specific signs we need to look for?”

“Good question K. I have no way of knowing. But, to be safe, look for a container that has some configuration like this…’ Alecta swept her hair to the side, showing the brand on her shoulder. “It’s Cyrillic. The words translate roughly into…”

Callen spoke up, ‘It denotes ownership. If ‘the’ container is marked any differently than the rest it will have some form of this message stating who the owner is. If my Russian isn’t mangled, looks like the name   
means Rasputen.”

 

“Your Russian is flawless. He had that slapped on me when I’d been there about two months. Whatever.”

“Now, the ship. How will we get to it?”

“Well that depends. Garcia said she didn’t find any ships in the port that raised any red flags so far. Now, once we know more about this man’s identity, we will learn more about the ship. If it is in port, we can just   
go in silent. I will want snipers. Gibbs, I will have you organize them. But I will say that Oona is a great sniper as well as Theo. There are others that will be along the path, no worries about that. But a professional will know what he or she needs from the others. And I’m going to want ya’ll to be a part of things either way. If the ship is still out at sea, we will need the Coast Guard to get us there. Similar deal though, quietly.   
No lights, no sirens. If we spook them they will take off, and then Ivory will get involved, and there will be a shark buffet. I want to get snipers on the ship. There will be a lot of the traffickers to take out. You can...plow the rows for us?”

“You got it doll.”

She smiled at Gibbs and bowed her head slightly.”

As she stood to take Director David’s hand Reid asked the question that was on everyone’s mind.

“What if something goes wrong? When the guy follows you back to the room with DiNozzo and Deeks…?”  
With her back to the rest of the group and Eli to her left, Alecta stopped and turned her head to the right to speak over her shoulder a bit, “I’m counting on it. How did you think I was getting onto the ship?”

“Come darling, we shall dance now.”

“Eli, my ankle, really. I should take it easy, I have been reckless with it enough…”

The old man stooped down on one knee and removed the stunning red shoes, placing them off to the side. Next he hoisted her up in his arms, almost bridal style, carrying her out onto the floor.

 

“Then you can use my feet.”

“That dirty old man.” 

“Jealous, Deeks?”

Deeks merely looked at Sam and narrowed his eyes.

“Aww come on. She flirts with everybody. It’s not his fault.”

“I’m with Mr. Deeks. My father is quite a womanizer.”

“Well then they are perfect opponents.”

“Truer words were never spoken Miss Lange.”

“She can’t help it. It’s in her blood. We’re from the south. We learn how to flirt while we’re still in diapers.” They all heard Kevin explain.

True to his word, Director David allowed Alecta to stand on his feet as he moved them to dance. They could be seen enjoying themselves. She was laughing wholeheartedly at something he said that must have been   
quite funny. When the dance was over, Eli carried her back over to the table the same way he had carried her away from it; and she could be heard saying something about how she couldn’t wait to come back to   
Israel some day and that she missed it so.

“Really? When were you in Israel? Lex.”

“Years ago. I loved going to the bazars…all the different textiles and things…you can find some great stuff.”

“And what about the minarets, the calling of the pilgrims to prayer?”

“Sunset in the old city. I do miss it so. There’s not many things left in the world like it. Ziva, you have to come with me next trip I take to Istanbul. I think that you will love it.”

“So should we go ahead and get the show on the road?”

“Yes. We should all go our separate ways now; circulate.”

With that Alecta went about with Deeks who tried to help her keep the weight off of her bum ankle.

“Are you sure you’re up to this? You’re only days off of having a rough case.”

“Deeks I don’t have much of a choice. I’m pretty certain these people took my daughter. I’ve failed at so many things in life. But I didn’t want this for her. I told the others earlier, that when I retire from the Agnes’s   
that I was going to pass the job onto her. Yes, that much is true. They have to have a leader. The group can’t function properly without at least one figurehead. There are many other members that have specialized   
skills…much like our work teams…but also like our teams there is always one person at the top. Director Vance, Director David, for a couple of examples. I provide the same sort of function. 

But I never wanted her to be involved with these men. They’re different. I have to do this. I’m going to get her back, and I’m going to make them pay. What happens to me in the end…that doesn’t matter as much.”  
For the next hour or so, Deeks and Alecta made a good show of being a couple on the sly. Tony mingled, giving them time to make it look real. One would have to question whether Tony had a streak of jealousy or   
not, either one of them really. Deeks seemed to have the same streak, right down his back. But maybe she just had that effect on men.

Within an hour to 1 ½ hours Tony came back into the scope of things. Just like the plan called for he made it look real, almost too real. He shoved Deeks slightly to make it look like he was breaking up the two   
dancing; next he grabbed Alecta by the arm and was practically dragging her away; all the while he was trying to be mindful that she was still injured.

“Awww. I love a good caveman now and again.”

“Just come on. Deeks will meet us around the elevator.”

“But Tony….” She was heard to say as they exited the room. And sure enough, the various team members watched the man that they had been watching as he took notice of what was going on. The trick of the   
situation was that, in his rush, Tony had forgotten the bit about the stolen wallet. 

“Don’t worry I got this.” Sam took a quick picture of the man’s face with a small camera that he had on him. Then, he placed a call. “Eric. Facial recognition on the shot coming to you. I need it now.”

“You got it, Sam. I’ll send the info to your phone as soon as I have something.”

“Send it to Garcia as well. She may know something we don’t.”

Hotch looked at Morgan, ‘Just what is that supposed to mean?”

“Only that she’s the best at what she does. She may be able to get into something that Eric can’t.”

“Nice save,’ Rossi whispered to Morgan as Hotch turned back to the rest of the group.

“Don’t tell me, I like breathing.”

After about 10-15 minutes, Deeks made his way out to the area of the hall that held the elevators. He received a text telling to meet them in room 1044. When he got to the room, he was shocked when Alecta met   
him at the door in her underwear; the panties were lacy, red, boy cut…and she had added the convertible straps to the bra which was just about as skimpy as the undies.

Playing along with the ruse, ‘Well this is more like it. Did you get rid of your old man?”

Alecta saw over Deeks’ shoulder that the suspect was walking down the hall, past their door, acting as though he was going to his room, ‘Oh, don’t be so silly. I talked him into joining.” She saw the strange look that Deeks gave her. “Don’t act so surprised, you know I’m insatiable.”   
With that she brought Deeks into the room. “I think he bought it.” 

She was on her tip toes trying to press her eye to the peephole and see as far as she could. 

Tony and Deeks would’ve laughed, but they were still stuck on stupid over the image of her in her undies.

Turning around, “I’ma jump in the shower and get changed. Don’t go on a cruise dressed like this ya know?”

Alecta walked across the suite and grabbed her bag that had been brought up for her. The guys weren’t really paying attention to a word she said, they barely registered that she had moved much. Walking into the   
bathroom, she brushed the knuckles of her left hand across her shoulder and mumbled to herself about still having her mojo. The bag she took with her merely had her toiletries and a change of undergarments;   
the rest of her clothes were in the dresser.

“Wow.” Deeks was the first to make a sound.

“Ya know, just this once, I have to agree with you.” 

Tony’s cell rang and when he answered it and shut it quickly Deeks looked at him funny.

“Gibbs. He said to stop ogling Davis and get to work.”

“Nice.”

They set to work putting up hidden video cameras; they were remote so they could be controlled by outside computers. This was handy, considering they had Abby, Eric, and Penelope all on the same side. They   
also left weapons in a few strategic spots in case the situation called for it.   
Within about 10-15 minutes, Alecta came back out of the bathroom; again she was wearing only a bra and underwear. Her hair was still damp though she had towel dried it and it hung around her hips and shoulders in just washed waves.

“Don’t you ever wear clothes?”

“Yes, Deeks, I do. But I thought since the two of you enjoyed the view the last time, that I would give you a little bit more of a show before I had to get dressed.” She smiled cockily and winked.

“Yeah, ok. Well I’m going to go tell Gibbs that everything is set up, and check in with some of the others.’ Looking at Deeks as he went out the door, ‘Don’t do anything with my woman until I get back.”

“Awww, Tony I didn’t know you cared,’ Alecta feigned with a cheshire cat smile. 

With that Tony was gone. And for just a second Alecta began to really worry about things as she slid her clothes on.

“What’s wrong, why the case of nerves now?”

“Tony broke script. He didn’t give me a chance to steal the wallet. I hope the team was able to adjust.”

“I’m sure they have thought of something, they wouldn’t leave you twisting in the wind.”

“God how I hope you’re right.”

“You’re not strapping on any weapons?”

“No. If he comes for me, and I’m counting on it, he would just take them from me anyway. And it may make the transition more difficult. I need Rasputen to believe one of two things….that I either didn’t think he’d   
ever come back after me and my family, or that I wanted to come to him voluntarily. I need him to feel safe enough around me to get close and make a mistake. If I need a weapon later, I can take it from one of the   
men I will kill.”

She sat back against the head board of the bed, holding an old silver chain. Attached to the chain was an old medallion and two gold wedding bands, one much larger than the others. Deeks watched her as she   
contemplated the wedding bands, the sadness in her eyes.

After a few minutes of gathering her thoughts Alecta jumped up off of the bed, grabbing Deeks’ hands and making him stand up.

“I need you to give these to Agent Rossi. He knows what they are. Tell him he gave me a book once and I just now thought of anything suitable to give him. There is also a key on this chain; Morgan will want that.   
Tell him I know the mystery of the cabinet has been about to kill him. Now. Please, go get some ice. I’m thirsty.”

“I’m not leaving.”

“I wasn’t asking. Don’t make me beg…Deeks just go.” 

Alecta shoved Deeks out into the hallway with the ice bucket as she opened the door. She shut and locked it behind him. She waited until she was sure he was gone, looking out the peephole again, almost laughing   
herself, although sadly, at the chuckles she got from the guys earlier.

She walked over to the window, looking out over the river and docks, waiting.  
In only a matter of moments the door to her room was kicked open, nearly tearing it completely off it’s hinges. The suspect she’d been eyeballing came busting into the room. She fought him tooth and nail. Of course she had every intention of letting him abduct her, she had to use him to get on to the ship, but that didn’t mean she had to make it too easy on him. She was going to fight him, he was going to retaliate. And when they got to the ship and Rasputen and Mengele saw that he had dared to beat her without their permission, they would order him to be killed. That was the usual way. She’d beat him. He’d beat her. They’d have him murdered. The whole dirty mess would take care of itself. Then, once on the ship, she could begin to get the revenge she’d been dreaming of for years.

In the meantime, Deeks had made it back to the suite of rooms that the teams were using as command central. He was out of breath from running so hard.

Hetti was the first to speak to him. “Mr. Deeks, what do you have for us?”

“It’s not for you. It’s for them,’ he pointed to Rossi and Morgan.

“Well come on man, out with it.”

“Agent Rossi, she said to give you the rings, that you’d understand. She said that once upon a time you gave her a book, and she just now thought of something suitable to give you in return.”

Rossi looked at the rings and the chain, he thought for a second, trying to place where he’d seen them before. Suddenly, his head popped up.

“Hotch. I don’t think she plans on making it out alive.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“These were the wedding rings that belonged to Davis and Yuri. She was wearing them on this chain around her neck the first time I met her. She kept rubbing them, as if they gave her some measure of comfort….kind of like a rosary. I think she’s saying that she expects this mission to kill her. I don’t think it’s something that she planned on initially, but I think she is willing to get her daughter back at the risk of her own life.”

“It would make sense.”

Everyone looked at Immogene.

“How does any of that make sense?” Morgan’s tone spoke volumes.

“She always felt like a failure. She failed to tell the truth after her mother’s murder. She failed being a good enough woman to Kevin. She failed at being a good mom for Rachel; this just cements that belief. She   
failed at keeping Yuri and the kids. We don’t see it that way, but she does. She’s going to make it right the only way she knows how.”

“And the key, what’s that for?” Reid brought the attention back around to the necklace.

“She said that Morgan had been waiting to get into that cabinet for days.”

While everyone was talking, Ziva had become rather agitated about the state of affairs. She looked at her father who was just as agitated as she was. He really did care about Alecta, they were old friends. She and   
her father rarely saw eye to eye, but this was one of the few times that she could admit that the old man had a reason to worry. Ziva took off running to get to the room that had been set up for Davis. When she got there all she saw was the destruction and blood. She ran back to ‘command central’ even faster.

“She’s gone!”

“Damn it!” Rossi was pissed. He couldn’t trust himself to even speak, or he was going to sound like an angry father ranting about the recklessness of his errant daughter. Hotch could tell he was angry, that vein in   
his forehead looked like it might be about to burst.

“Where’s Gibbs?” McGee, only then noticing that his team leader was missing.

“Well Timothy, did you expect Jethro to just let his own cousin be led off to certain death without any prayer of back up?”

“I should have been informed. I don’t care for this at all.” Ziva started the statement on her own, but by the end of it, her father had verbally shared her sentiment. 

“Relax, Oona is with him. Along with your friend Gibbs, she’s one of the best sharpshooters in the free world. Men and women in Eastern Europe are often given military training whether or not they want it.”

“Is Theo with them?” Ivory had chimed in.

“She should be.”

“Well then we might have a chance. But just in case, I brought my bag o’ tricks…’ Ivory placed a rolled up package on the table; it looked almost like a military issue sleeping bag or something…but as Ivory unrolled   
it, it became very apparent that it was so much more…

“Is there an explosive device that isn’t here?” Reid seemed genuinely worried.

“Yeah. The C-4…I felt like that would have been a bit much for this particular mission…there are too many variables to mess with that. I need a more localized explosion; things I have more control over.” Ivory   
stated in an almost nonchalant manner, reaching for a drink.  
Meanwhile, on the ship, Alecta was just arriving. She was being held by the arms from behind by her assailant. A tall, older Russian man was approaching Alecta. She looked defiantly at him, a long buried hatred   
burned in her that few would understand. She felt like she would spontaneously combust. The older man just looked at her, like he expected her arrival. And he should, he’d ordered her brought here.

“You were told to bring her here. You were not given permission to do this.”

“She…” the man wasn’t given enough time to formulate an excuse. From out of left field somewhere else on the boat, somewhere that Alecta couldn’t actually see, a shot rang out and pierced the man right   
between the eyes. Before his body could even slump and hit the deck, the older man had taken hold of Alecta’s arm to keep her from being dragged down by the dead weight. Next, he shoved her at one of his other men, giving a third goon the order to dump the body over board.

Inwardly, Alecta smiled at herself; so far things were going as planned. But that feeling wouldn’t last long.

“Imagine my surprise when I learn young woman is hunting me down. Little ol’ me. I am simple business man. I ask myself, what she wants with me.” The man had walked over to a cabin on the deck, knocked on   
the door. Once the door was opened, he reached in and grabbed someone from inside.

Pulling on the arm of the person in his grasp, ‘Imagine how surprise gets bigger when I learn who this young woman is.” Jerking the young woman in front of him, Alecta comes face to face with her daughter   
Rachel. 

Rachel is beaten. Not as badly as she could have been, but bad enough that Alecta wanted to deep six the whole mission and take the more ‘direct’ route to ending this.

Mother and daughter looked at each other, giving each other signals with their eyes that told each of them they were okay for now.

“And then, to add to the gloriousness of the day….my friends bring me another surprise…” that smarmy man’s heavily accented voice was really starting to piss Alecta off.

Suddenly, she hears a sound she sincerely hopes isn’t real. She hears someone else being dragged onto the deck. She hears…she hears….

“MOMMY!!!! THE BAD MENS GOT IN!!!!”


	19. Who Are You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a traitor in our midst.

Things just got a little more difficult. Seriously?

Alecta heard the children before she saw them. And knowing the girls the way she did, she would bet her bottom dollar it was Sofie’s big mouth that could be heard. Emma was likely deep in thought about how she and Sofie and Jazzy could help Mommy get them out of this mess; always the pragmatist.

“Lemme go. Mommy’s gonna make you go asleep. You wait…she’s gonna make you go asleep fast, like this…’ Alecta could hear Sofie threaten ogre #1, snapping her little fingers.

She had to hand it to the kid…she had balls. She wanted to grin from ear to ear, but she settled on just looking over to Rachel. Rachel merely winked at Alecta, and Alecta blinked both eyes; once for yes, she understood the message that Rachel had been sending. 

They both understood the fact that they would be kept separate. Rasputen was no fool. He may have been a great many things, but not a fool. He knew that if Rachel was anything like Alecta, that putting them together for very long at a time would wind up shaving years off of his life.

Sure enough in a matter of moments, Rachel was shoved back into the room they had been keeping her in. But that was of little consequence. Alecta knew all she needed to know. Rachel had already procured a key to unlock her cuffs. Alecta only wondered which one of the men she had to kill to get it, and how she was able to do so without being caught. But, considering who her mother was, and her father for that matter…it should come as no surprise to Alecta that Rachel is already this many steps closer to a way out for them. Like Alecta, she will use any amount of cunning that she has too to get what she wants. And like her father,  
Kevin, she has the personality to steam roll it out of you if needs be.

“I want the children in here,’ Rasputen indicated to a small dimly lit room, no furniture….there were only sacks on the floor for them to lay on if they got tired, no blankets to speak of. 

One of the men shoved the girls into the room, the whole time all three of them protesting, none more loudly than Sofie. Emma was busy trying to get Sofie to shut her trap. She worried that her sister might put a chink in whatever plans Rachel and Alecta might be scheming. If Sofie kept running her mouth, Emma was afraid one of their captors would turn on them, then their mother’d be forced into some crazy actions, and whatever plans were in the works would be for naught. Jazzy seemed to understand this, and she calmed herself immediately.

Alecta was placed in a room onboard ship that was as barren as the ones her daughters (all three of them) and Jazzy were placed in. Rasputen knew she couldn’t be trusted with anything. It had been 12 years but he still remembered her well. Alecta was lucky that her room even had any window at all; this must have been an oversight. Good to know. His guard wasn’t completely up. Now she had to figure out how to turn this to her advantage. She wondered where they were headed. In a room with one window, a small one at that, that faced the deck, she was unlikely to figure it out anytime soon.

Meanwhile, back at command central the team was freaking out over the fact that Alecta would let herself be taken so easily. Derek was fuming, they were only starting to be friends, but he didn’t understand why she felt the need to do something so foolish. Not that he wouldn’t have done the same thing in her shoes; in all likelihood he would have.  
Rossi was absolutely livid. He had cared for Alecta as a daughter; now more so than ever, after having learned more about her than he had previously. He never had any children of his own. And he couldn’t imagine anybody doing things to their own child that had been done to her. He was already trying to figure out where he wanted her father’s body hidden should the opportunity arise.  
Hotch was worried about how to find her. She was on this ship that had managed to come into port and avoid being red flagged by any searches. Currently the ship’s course was unknown to them. How were they going to find her and the children in time, before something horrible happened again.

JJ and Emily both were worried about the newest member of their circle of friends with Penelope. They had quickly adopted her. 

Reid, he had lost someone that he loved discussing historical facts with…someone that didn’t mind his rambling ways….he actually smiled about the fact that Alecta seemed to take some comfort from the fact he rambled when he was on a roll. She would lay her head on his shoulder and just let him go. But the more he thought about that, the more the look of sadness would pass over his face. 

Tony and Deeks had been left alone of their companion. When she lived in L.A, before she walked into the nightmare that was Fletcher, she had shared many a movie night with Deeks. And the same went for Tony…although her movie nights with Tony were fewer and farther between. Both men had similar tastes in movies, similar senses of humor. At the core they were decent men, truly. They would do anything for anybody; but they had both been hurt one way or other, and covered up whatever pain they felt by being the ‘class clown’.  
Kensi, like JJ and Emily had just lost sight of her sister. Ziva too, for that matter.

McGee had similar sentiments about her as Reid. He was much like Reid in so many ways. His home life had been a heck of a sight better. But he was almost too intelligent and that left him being socially awkward. Alecta never made him feel like that was a problem. She took him for what he was. 

G. and Sam…they lost one hell of a partner. There had been a couple of times that she had been called in to aid them on cases. Her level of security clearance was insane. She could get them access to just about any building or file in the world…there were only a few places that even she wasn’t allowed. And, If Sam had to admit it, she was as tough in some respects as he was. She had as many secrets as G., however, a lot of her secrets were kept of her own free will. 

Hetti had a lot of the same feelings as Rossi did. Alecta was the daughter she never had. Hetti had to be one of the few people on earth that had access to literally everything there was to be known about Alecta; not that she would ever divulge the information. No, Henrietta Lange would take most all of that to her grave with her. She had visited Alecta in the hospital during the initial few days after she had been rescued from the under-cover case to begin with. Alecta never really knew about it, she’d been unconscious and on a breathing machine. 

Ducky worried about his dear young friend. He struggled to keep the tears from escaping. She loved to listen to him go on about a great many things. When she was sick or just feeling crappy in general, he was one of the few doctors she allowed any chance, whatsoever, get near her. He was one of the few that she had never tried to do serious bodily harm to…consequently he was one of the few that had the audacity to try to take care of her. He loved her in much the same way Rossi did. 

Eli, was missing his friend as well. He found himself wondering if he would ever get to show her around Israel again, and take her on another tour of the old city…or take her shopping. What that woman could do to a bazaar….she could shop for hours…people in the city would often snicker at Director David being made a pack mule of. He’d wind up laden down with bags of fabrics that caught her eye, or books…she loved some of the old books; especially some of the ones about the legends and myths of the old world. And don’t get him started on the hordes of jewelry. He wasn’t interested in her as a love interest as some would think. He was merely swept up in the whirlwind that was Alecta. He couldn’t help it. She was a trained assassin. She had a ‘never die’ attitude that quite well matched his own.

Gibbs….Gibbs was gone off to try to find her. He took off right around the time that Tony had come back around. Of all the others in the room he had more reason to fear for her safety. Like Ducky had alluded to, she was a cousin of his. His father and one of her great-grandfathers were brothers. They hadn’t been close growing up….Gibbs was nearly 30 years older than Alecta. But they were family none the less. And his dad had mentioned the family ties more than once. One year, when Gibbs’ father Jackson’s nephew died it was a shocker. The man had been Alecta’s grandfather Blanchard. He was a lawyer in Alecta’s hometown. He had been in good health. Most people figured one day he’d get done in…the phrase ‘He needed killin’ had probably been coined just for him. Old Joe had beat his wife and kids for years while hiding behind the law. It was really only a matter of time before someone got tired of the hypocrisy. But the man wound up having a massive heart attack, rather suddenly. The ironic thing was he had just been to visit his  
granddaughter, Alecta, the day before. When he left the house, according to some, he seemed to feel fine. Gibbs once asked Alecta about that. She made it clear she wished to never speak of it; she all but begged  
Gibbs to drop it. He finally did. Jackson Gibbs always figured that Jake King had something to do with the death of Joe Blanchard. He couldn’t prove it, but he had the inclinations of an old man.

“Hotch!” Morgan suddenly yelled jerking his team leader out of his melancholy.

“Yes, Morgan?”

“Garcia. We need Pen. She knows more about this than we do. She was there once. She may know a way of finding her that we don’t…or can’t think of just now.”

“JJ…”

“Yes sir.”

Immediately JJ called Garcia to ask her if she knew of any way to find out where Alecta had gone and if so where she was likely to end up.

“I don’t know. Let me check and see what I can find and I will send the info to your phones ASAP.”

JJ gave Hotch the news. Now all they had to do was wait for Garcia’s message.

Immogene started throwing up ‘baseball’ signals to Ivory, letting her know to get on the horn to the others back at the compound.

Ivory came back within moments with a stricken look on her face.

“What is it?” Immogene had never seen her look so worried.

“The compound has been breached. Security was taken out first. There were only a few survivors. Then they went for the family.”

Kong began muttering under his breath.

“How could they have known how to get through the security measures?”

“Cossette, I don’t know. The old priest?”

“He’s still alive. They wouldn’t dare….”

“Zaheer and Lakshmi?”

“Wounded, but alive.”

“Theo?”

“Missing. And it seems as though Oona may have gone with Gibbs.”

“The twins and Jazzy?”

“Taken. The other children were able to get to the secret passage quickly enough. Apparently there were a few ‘improvements’ that Alecta had made that only the girls seemed to know about…Jazzy and Emma made sure to get the others into the new passages while Sofie provided the right distraction.”

“All three of them are gone then?”

Ivory only nodded.

“Hotch we have bigger problems.”

“Prentiss?”

“Garcia has sent us the information she found. But when JJ tried to contact her, there was no answer at the office. And she doesn’t seem to be picking up her cell.”

Derek, Hotch, and Immogene took off. They ran down the hall to the elevator only to rush to the parking garage after that. Morgan drove like a bat out of hell to get back to the Federal Building. Once they arrived and cleared security, the three of them ran on to Garcia’s lair. All they found was a note, written by Garcia sitting on the keyboard to one of her ‘babies’….all it said was ‘She saved my life’. Nothing else; just that cryptic one line. She saved my life. As if that was going to make them understand a damned thing.

“Pen, Pen, Pen.” Immogene bowed her head and shook it from exasperation. 

“What do you make of this?’ Hotch needed to know what the woman thought.

“The last time they met, they saved each other’s lives; much like the time before that. Garcia just can’t leave well enough alone. She has gone to try to do what she can to save Alecta.”

“How….”

“A few years ago, Alecta had a chip implanted in the base of her neck…kind of like the vet does to your dog, so that if it ever runs away or becomes lost, you can hop on the computer and track it. Same sort of thing here. Alecta, having the life she’s had, making some of the enemies that she’s made over the years…she thought it might be useful one day. God bless her for that foresight. And Garcia being privy to that information before the rest of us…she delayed the information getting sent to us by just a matter of a few moments to give herself time to get ahead of us.”

Back at ‘Command Central’, Ivory was wrapped up trying to understand where Theo had gotten to. She had been tasked with helping to get the children and the old priest to safety. If she was missing it wasn’t a good thing. But the facts as they were nagged at Immogene; she just couldn’t satisfactorily put things together. The children had known about the secret passageways that had been installed in the compound. They even knew about the panic room. And yet Sofie, Emma, and Jazzy had deliberately made the kids in the compound take a secondary route. Who had installed that route and when? And more to the point, why wasn’t the original plan good enough? What was going on around them in those last moments that the three girls thought the kids would be safer taking a different passage?

“Agent Rossi, Sir?”

“Yes, Ivory?”

“If it would be possible, I think we should all go back to your headquarters. I need to find the children. There are some things…some questions that need answering and I fear they are the only ones that can provide the necessary answers.”

“Very well then. If it will ultimately lead to getting this thing solved once and for all, so be it.”

Each of the remaining members of each team got into their respective vehicles and followed Rossi to the Federal Building, and they met up with Hotch and Morgan as well as Immogene.

Once they were all together Ivory explained why they had returned, leaving McGee and Callen behind at the hotel. As it turns out, Immogene was having the same issues, trying to figure out where Theo had gotten to. 

“And just where the hell has Pen gotten to?”

“Oh that, she may have found Lex.”

“Then that’s not good for anybody…’ Immogene and Ivory turned and looked at the doorway to the conference room where everyone had gathered. Morgan’s head snapped up quicker than most of the others.

“Cinnamon? What the hell happened to the two of you?”

Cinnamon and Moira had come in with the rest of the kids that had been at the compound. 

“Oh, nothing much…Just got ambushed.” Moira’s Irish accent sounded a tad sarcastic.

“Are the kids alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, they’ll live. But there’s something you should know.”

“What?”

“Immogene, Theo let them in.”

“NO. You’re lying.”

“Immogene, I saw it with my own eyes. Theo was the one that dragged Sofie out of the compound! I dare you to tell me I’m lying.”

Immogene dropped into a chair so suddenly that Reid had just barely enough time to slide it under her.

“No, no, no.” She put her head in her hands and drew in a deep breath to steady her nerves.

“This isn’t good for anybody then,’ Ivory reiterated the sentiment from earlier.

“Can we get a little more explanation of what that’s supposed to mean?”

“Sorry Vance old boy. It’s just that…the traffickers are enough of a difficulty to deal with. They are well trained in fighting and weapons…this is true. But Theo is as well trained an assassin as Lex. For anyone to go  
against Theo would be very much like someone fight Lex, the next best thing.”

“This is going to kill momma,’ Ivory stated quietly.

“What I’m wondering is what caused her to turn on us like this….Is this just a recent turn of events? Or, has she been a double agent for a long time and we just never caught it?” Cinnamon was wondering out loud  
as she paced back and forth with her hands clasped together behind her back.

“Excuse me, but does this not pale in comparison to the overriding factors here?”

Suddenly everyone looked up as they heard a throat being cleared over by the door.

“I should put a different team on this ‘case’…although I don’t think that this constitutes a real case.”

“Ah to Christ with ya, and me without my holy water.” Moira was heard to bellow towards the Dragon Lady of the FBI.

Kong and Mac stood up from their chairs with sudden anger…Hotch put forth a placating hand as Rossi started to speak.

“Strauss, you can’t take this away from us. She’s new here; we’re still only getting to know her. These people from the other agencies are throwing their help at us, they have met her and worked with her and know her as well if not better than we do. More to the point, Erin, WE owe her….the bureau owes her. Or have you forgotten after all these years? Have you forgotten what she saw, what she lived through….have you forgotten all that she lost to this case? She did it as a favor to the bureau…we went around asking for volunteers to help shut down this trafficking ring. She was the only one that stepped forward. If it wasn’t for her they would never have been stopped at all. She lost her entire family, except for her daughter Rachel, trying to end this….’ Rossi was seething with anger towards Erin Strauss…

“You can put any team you want on this case, do as you see fit. But so help me God, I am going to find that girl and bring her home. And then, if you have chosen to take this away from us, I’m going to resign. Not retire, RESIGN. So you do whatever it takes to help you sleep at night.”

With a final bark of anger towards Chief Strauss, Rossi stormed out of the room and made his way down to the tech sector. He needed to find the FBI’s second most sought after techie, behind their own Garcia.

“Kevin Lynch.” 

Upon hearing Rossi’s booming voice calling to him, he nearly quaked in fear…for a split second he had to really think over the last couple of weeks to remember if he had done anything that Pen would have had any reason to rat him out for….he came up empty.

“Agent Rossi?”

“Garcia’s missing, and you’re going to help us find her. I don’t give a damn about anything that happens between the two of you in your personal time. But you’re coming with me and you’re not moving your ass from that computer until Penelope Garcia and Agent Davis are back in one piece. Do you understand?”

“Y-Y-Yes sir. Agent Davis…wait, Pen knows her…Pen’s missing….” Lynch made quick work of grabbing a few things from his own desk to take with him in case he needed them in Garcia’s lair.

“And I should let you know that you will be joined in your technological efforts by Abby Sciuto and Eric Beale as well as Nell Jones and Tim McGee, they are affiliated with NCIS. We need all the help we can get on this.”

“Of course sir.”

Rossi was impressed with Kevin’s cooperation; it made him glad that he and Penelope had at least been able to stay professional after their split. Apparently they had stayed on friendly terms on a personal level if Kevin knew about Garcia’s connection to Agent Davis. 

Kevin was worried about Pen. She had confided in him some of what happened over the years. She hadn’t meant to, but there were the nightmares. One night Lynch had been spending the night over at Penelope’s house. She had woken up in the middle of the night, rushing to the bathroom to vomit. When she came out of the bathroom, Kevin had been sitting up in bed wondering what the heck was wrong. She was shaking a little; when she got back into bed and settled next to him, Kevin noticed just how bad she was shaking. She had curled up facing him, trying to bury her face.

He could remember asking her what was wrong and how she tried to brush him off at first. But eventually she began to tell him some of her story. She told him about meeting her friend Alecta for the first time as a 15 year old girl…how she was so small and dirty and pregnant. She talked about what shocked her most was when she heard the girls speak for the first time….

“I had been in the house for days….days Kevin. And I had seen her at least a dozen times, and she never once spoke. She always just had this look in her eye like she was scared to death of what might happen.  
Whether she was scared about what might happen to me or to her, I’m not sure. And they always beat on that poor girl Kevin. And one day they left. It was quiet in the house. She came down the stairs quickly to the little room they had been keeping me in…she gave me some clothes and a blanket, and she managed to untie me. She saved my life that day, I’m sure of it. All I knew was that I couldn’t let her go back to that house alone.”

On and on….bits and pieces of the story would just fall out. To be sure she left out large chunks of information that were just too hard to talk about. But he had heard enough to understand. And when he proposed to her and she turned him down, he was hurt. Not because he thought that she was in love with someone else…maybe for a second that thought crossed his mind, about her feelings towards Morgan…maybe. But Pen was an honest woman if she was nothing else. If she had been in love with anyone else at the time of her decision she would have said so, realizing that the truth would have been better in the long run. Lynch knew from looking in her eyes that she still had problems dealing with all the things that had gone on in the past; things that happened in that house, things that happened when she got captured by the traffickers when they thought she was with the authorities. She had tried to tell him that she just wasn’t ready for marriage, and she got all ‘Reid’ on him spouting marriage v/s divorce statistics. And he understood. It didn’t make it easier on him, but he could understand. She really thought she was doing him a favor by turning him away. She wanted him to find a nice normal girl to settle down with that could make him really happy. She was throwing herself under the bus for him. Kevin had started dating a few other people on occasion, none of them were Penelope though. But he had to try to move on. And in time, Pen and Derek did start seeing each other. Kevin couldn’t even really hate the idea much…if Pen was happy, after everything he did know, well then that’s was all good. And Derek wasn’t really a bad guy…a sketchy rep with the ladies for sure…but he and Pen were friends. And he really seemed to love her, and that was all Kevin needed to know. He was happy with his latest girlfriend. They had been dating for several months now…so maybe Penelope knew what she was talking about all along. 

None of that mattered though, she was missing, and she was still one of the best friends Kevin had ever had. He had to help find her…not tricky at all…nope. She was Penelope Garcia. If she wanted to fall off of the grid, she fell off of the grid. There was going to be very little ‘finding’ involved. They were going to need a miracle…either that or Pen was going to have to leave them bread crumbs. As Kevin met with the team he began praying for some really big bread crumbs.

Meanwhile, during Rossi’s tirade over in the tech sector, Hotch had been giving Strauss an earful.

“If that man resigns, I will tender my own resignation immediately after.”

“If Hotch goes, I go.” JJ was firm in her decision.

“I’ve been offered positions with INTERPOL; I would have no trouble leaving the BAU as a distant memory.” 

“And I can go into Homeland Security or the private sector.” 

“Well Dr. Reid, what do you have to add to this? You’ve just heard your entire team, down to Agent Morgan threaten to walk out….surely there’s something going on in that head of yours.”

“Ma’am, do you know how many opportunities I get offered every month to do the lecture circuit at various universities across the country and even in Great Britain? I turn them all down because I love what I do for  
the most part. Sure there are days I question whether or not the good we do matters in the grand scheme of things, but I do love it. And I have a family with this team. That’s something I have fought long and hard to keep. I would be left with no other alternative than to seek a career elsewhere. As for me, Agent Davis has somehow managed to trust us, a group of people that she has more reason than most to hate for what was done to her, with finding and saving her daughter…and now her children, plural, in the event that something happens to her and she is unable to do so herself. And Garcia is now missing, gone to try to find her. But if you want my honest and humble opinion….you will have bigger problems on your hands.”

“Please enlighten me Dr. Reid.”

“If our team disbands, knowing what you know about our track record for solve rates, and our popularity amongst the entire bureau….how long do you think it would take for other teams to leave the unit? How  
many teams would stay? How would you explain without losing your own post why the BAU as a unit folded? (Leaning in to lend importance to what he said next) I don’t really think that is a move you want to make, now is it Chief Strauss.”

“Are you threatening me Dr. Reid?”

“No ma’am. Stating a fact, merely stating facts. Even IF you attempted what you were talking about, and things started going downhill with Rossi’s resignation, how far do you think you’d get. Davis is friends with the directors. And the White House is her dog house. All she has to do is place one phone call to the President of the United States, and your career is done.”

“Well she isn’t here to challenge me now is she?”

“No. But I am.” Immogene stepped forward. “Please, do tell me how, after our ‘foster’ mother did all those things to help the Bureau solve this case, and got treated like a pariah for it for years, you’re now going to screw her over yet again. i’m dying to hear this.”

Immogene was nearly head and shoulders taller than Erin Strauss, causing the older woman to have to look up at her. The younger woman looked deadly serious when she stood toe to toe with the Section Chief.  
And Ivory stood beside her ‘sister’ ready if Chief Strauss gave either one a reason to react, the response would be swift.

Strauss must’ve known the deck was against her. She backed down and even offered to help them if they would have her; although Immogene was still a little weary of the older woman’s presence.

“Let me just say this, and then I’ll let this go. We have only just found out that we may have been betrayed by one of our own…if you so much as sneeze the wrong way….”

“Imma…we don’t have time for this.”

Immogene was brought back to the task at hand by Cinnamon’s words of reason.

About this time Rossi came back with Kevin Lynch in tow explaining that he was going to be taking over the technical aspect in Garcia’s absence. Derek gave him a nod to do what he needed to do. Kevin went to Garcia’s lair and sat down and got straight to work.

Everyone noticed that Immogene’s head really didn’t seem to be in the game. The idea that one of their own could have turned against them had really thrown her for a loop. She had walked over and sat in a chair near a window on the far side of the bull-pen. She was staring out of the window almost despondently. Hotch went to go and speak with her.

“Are you going to be able to do this?”

“Of course I am. What kind of question is that?” Immogene was defiant if she was nothing else.

“I just mean that you seem to be taking this rather hard. That’s all.”

“How would you like it if you were in the midst of an investigation and Agent Morgan was the suspect….that you were able to catch him red handed and convict him….Or Agent Rossi, or Reid for that matter. How do  
you expect me to feel? I thought I’d known Theo since we were like 13 or 14. We were captured by the traffickers in similar ways. Yes, her parents were paid to get control over her and I was snatched off the streets…but in the end we were both kidnapped just the same. We lived through the same exact torture for months…years even. Nothing was done to her that wasn’t done to the rest of us. Momma damn near died  
for the effort of saving Theo’s life. If it hadn’t been for Yuri taking the shot when he did, we wouldn’t be sitting here having this conversation right now. And for what? What was it all for? The bureau turned its back  
on her. She was locked away in that institution for so many months. Where was the bureau then? She lost her husband, her children…they’re still dead. She was treated like a science experiment for months. She still  
has a scar on her throat from the way Rasputen had the knife pressed to it. And now this; Theo is turning on the only person that ever really cared about us. Our families never wanted us back….”

“That can’t be the truth.”

“Isn’t it. Alecta tracked down our families for us…in some of our cases, like Cossette, the families couldn’t be found…they had been transient anyway. But for those of us with families that could be found, she arranged for us all to be able to go back to them. They didn’t want us; they sent us away. When they got us back and figured out that we were so different than when we left…they didn’t want us anymore. Some of them couldn’t deal with the nightmares…waking up in the middle of the night, screaming until our lungs hurt, in cold sweats….not talking to anyone, being irritable with everyone---if not downright hostile----when we did. We weren’t their children anymore. We weren’t their sweet babies. Some of the parents really tried. They did. They sent us to shrinks…tried to find us therapy. They got us into programs----art or music, etc.----to try to find some kind of outlet for the turmoil that was inside of us. But the damage was done, and they couldn’t undo it for all their efforts. They threw us away. Alecta was all we had left. 

I remember the seven of us showed up on her doorstep in the middle of the night. We hadn’t seen her since she was sent to the funny farm. She was living in a one bedroom apartment at the time. It had one tiny, three-piece, bathroom. The kitchen….it was a stove, a dorm refrigerator, and a bookcase that she used for her dishes….the entire apartment was maybe 600sq. feet. But she took us in. She gave the one bed she had to the seven of us, and she spread out pallets on the floor made out of blankets and things for those of us who couldn’t fit in the bed. 

We lived there for about eight months, maybe closer to a year. When it came to getting ready to go somewhere, we were each allowed 30 minutes in the bathroom to get our showers and get our teeth and hair brushed, and pull ourselves together. Even Alecta; she followed the rules she set up for us to lead by example.

There were times that I’m sure she went hungry to give us the chance to eat. Anything that she didn’t spend on groceries and keeping us in clothes she saved for a larger place. It’s lucky for us that Mac was a doctor. He could give us check-ups for free. Some of us actually had children already from our time with the traffickers. He would check them out too. An old woman that had lived in her building at the time had been a school teacher back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and she came by sometimes to assess what levels we were at with our education. Alecta called on every favor she ever had to do right by us.

And now…now Theo does this. Why? I have got to hear her excuse. It better be grand. Because right now…right this second…I’m thinking of ways I would like to kill her myself. And I don’t like that feeling. I don’t want it to come to that. And I’m not 100% sure any one of us could do it. We have spent nearly 20 years of our lives together, being sisters, doing the things we do to stop the activities of people like those traffickers. I can’t think of one good reason why she would double cross us like that. It makes no sense to me.”

Immogene had enough of talking. It wasn’t making any of her feelings go away. She still wanted Theo dead for her treasonous acts, but she was conflicted by her familial feelings toward the girl. And she had to have feelings for her children. It was going to be up to herself and the rest of the Agnes’s to make sure they got the best care they could when this was all over. They had to be prepared for the fact that, in all likelihood, their mother wasn’t coming out of this alive. 

“Agent Hotchner, Sir….I think I may have a location on Penelope…and on Agent Davis for that matter!” 

That was the alert from Kevin Lynch that reverberated around the bull-pen of the BAU as he came running down the hall, laptop in hand.


	20. Who Are You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I believe we finally find out what happened to Alecta's other family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “The hatred of those who are near to us is most violent.” Tacitus

Aaron Hotchner ran, not brisk walking, ran to the area of the bull-pen that usually housed his team. 

“What did you just say Mr. Lynch?”

“S-Sir…Once I managed to get through all of the little road blocks that Penelope has set up…and they were numerous….I found that apparently, considering the lifestyle that Agent Davis leads, there was a point in time where she had a chip implanted in her neck. It’s sort of like the vet does for dogs or cats or whatever; that way if your pet runs away from home or becomes lost, you can still track it down; same sort of scenario here. Pen had one put in her neck as well. It seems as though many of the Agnes’s have them; and a few of the St. George’s as well….”

“Saint George’s?”

“Yes Agent Prentiss. According to what I have come to understand over time is that there is a….um a secondary organization…the Brotherhood of St. George. They are a fraternity to the Agnes’s…..”

“Yeah…that big dude, Kong, he’s one of them; as is Mac…” Morgan was pointing at them.

“You mean to tell me that neither one of you knew about the tracking devices?”

Taking Rossi’s temper on, Mac spoke up, “No sir, we didn’t. Most of their activities are on a need to know basis. Most of the other Agnes’s don’t know who’s got the chip and who doesn’t….that way if one of them are taken, case in point, they can claim ignorance; the ones who took them can smack them around all they want, they won’t get any information from them, not because they won’t tell, but because they can’t….

“And if you will pardon me for my interruption…’ Kong spoke up finally, “under the circumstances, with Theo having turned on us, on them…it looks like it may have been the best idea ‘Shiva’ ever had.”

“Now who’s ‘Shiva’?”

“Pardon, Dr. Reid, it is one of the many names that people know Agent Davis by. She got that after the girls leveled the better part of a city block with some explosives once.”

“Yeah, I heard about that case.” Prentiss said with a chuckle.

“Alecta is always worried she will never live that one down. Although, in her defense, Ivory over here built the bomb.”

“Hey! I was having a little trouble reading my notations on the correct measurements for the ingredients. Somebody smudged my notes. Mac, would you care to fill in the gap? Nevertheless, it makes for a great bedtime story.”

“Back to the issue at hand ladies.” Cinnamon arched an eyebrow at Mac and Kong when they gave her an odd look for lumping them in with that blanket statement. “If the shoe fits…”

“We only have a certain window of time to get to them. Can we fight over semantics later. PLEASE!” 

“Ohhhh, you’ve gone and made Cossette raise her voice. Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. You’ve been naughty.” Moira’s sarcastic tone could be heard.

“Shhhh!” Zaheer’s tone brooked no argument, and she was backed up by Lakshmi’s stance. Either one of them looked ready for a fight should the need arise.

“As I was saying….’ Lynch was getting back to task, “there seems to be a tracking device implanted in both Pen and Agent Davis. I was able to find the frequency for Penelope’s first. Once I noticed what direction she was heading in, I looked for any signs that might tell me why. That’s when I found this.”

Lynch pointed to the screen, JJ was busy getting the conference room set up so they could move in there to watch the footage. They were all watching the dots representing the tracking devices that each woman had.

“It seems that they are heading to a warehouse district in Dumfries, that’s just a little bit east of here.”

“Dr. Reid is correct. I did some more digging…Pen didn’t want to block us from finding anything, she merely wanted to slow us down….”

“But why?”

“Agent Morgan, she didn’t want us, any of us, getting caught up in this thing. You have yet to learn how bad her nightmares get sometimes. She wanted to spare all of you that much. But I was able to find out the name of the shipping company we have been looking for.”

“Come on man…come on.” Rossi grew impatient.

“Yuzhno Shipping. The ship that we are interested in, the one that seems to have Agent Davis on board, is their flag ship, the Yuzhno-Sakahlinsk V.M.”

“Yuzhno-Sakahlinsk is an island off of Russia. The southern region had been granted to Japan at one point.” Emily interjected.

“It was found in 1882 by convicts, its origins are very similar to that of Australia in that way. However, in recent decades there has been an economic upswing due to various investments by big oil companies. As of 2010 the population was estimated at around 177,682 people.” 

“Thank you Dr. Reid.” Cinnamon smirked at him, causing Reid to blush.

“It’s possible that Yuzhno has a connection to one of the leaders of the trafficking ring.”

“Good point JJ. Lynch…”

“On it.” With that he spun back around to the laptop that was currently on Morgan’s desk. Yes, Morgan’s desk. At first it had shocked everyone; Morgan, being nice to Lynch. Morgan was desperate to get Penelope back, he didn’t care who he had to pander to.

“How are we going to figure out if this Yuzhno region has anything to do with one of the suspects? We don’t even know what their real names are yet.” Rossi sounded like a mix between superlatively pissed and lost…how those two things managed to live in that man at the same time was a wonder. Superlatively pissed, everyone could understand. They all felt that way at the disappearance of Penelope, and the fact that someone had such hatred toward Davis. But the lost tone, that lost tone, it wasn’t like Rossi. He was never lost. This worried Hotch.

“It’s possible that the name of the ship or the shipping company could reveal something.”

“What are you getting at Reid?” Morgan wondered seriously what the kid was thinking.

“Well, the name of the ship, the last letters are V.M. Now in a lot of areas there are often initials of some sort on a ship…H.M.S Titanic…so on and so forth. What if the V.M. on this ship stands for a person’s name? Possibly the owner of the company?”

Hotch spun around, “Lynch, I need you to find out who owns this company.”

“Working on it….working on it…ha! Got it. Thank you Garcia.”

“What is it?” JJ wondered how Garcia had managed to help them, yet again, from a distance.

“Vahid Mamedov. He owns the shipping company. Thanks for the direction Dr. Reid.”

Prentiss had gotten on the computer at her desk and started banging away at the keys. “Vahid Mamedov, he’s not actually Russian. He originally hails from Azerbaijan, his family moved to the northern Yuzhno region so his father could find work within one of the oil companies.”

“Between Azerbaijan and the island of Yuzhno he would have been privy to various aspects of the shipping business.” For just a hot second Rossi sounded a little like his old self.

“Especially considering that as a youth he worked on the docks in Yuzhno. He would have gained some insider knowledge of how to get around security checks.” Prentiss was on a roll digging into Vahid’s past.

“It seems as though he may have met his soon to be best friend, a man known to the outside world as Mengele 2.0, through his work in the shipping industry.”

“Mengele’s real name is Kazimir Bogolyukov. His family was from the Yakutsk region of Russia.”

“Hit it Reid.” Hotch smiled at Rossi’s intro.

“Most of the economy of the Yakustsk region is due to the diamond mines; the region is responsible for about 20% of the world’s rough diamond output, it was founded in 1632 by Pyotr Beketov.”

Hotch glanced at Rossi with a smirk. “Thank you Reid.”

“What is Mengele’s real name?”

“Excuse me Dr. Mallard?”

“Mr. Deeks, she---Alecta----fears doctors. There isn’t a lot on God’s earth that she is afraid of. But she is terrified of doctors. This ‘Mengele 2.0’ as you called him, she once said that he used to be a doctor…a real doctor….at one time. That his function in the trafficking ring was…”

“He tortured us. Morning, noon, and night. He tortured us. He was always coming up with new things. But he and this Vahid…they took special interests in ma’ma. That psycho, Vahid, always thought that he and Alecta were so much alike. He thought she was like him and therefore, belonged to him. He rarely let her out of his sight. But there were days that brought more trouble than good. Although she was safe as long as she….pleased….him….there were days when he could sense that he was on the verge of a mutiny in one way or other. His men resented the special treatment that he seemed to show her…some of the other girls did as well. If animosity got to great, he’d throw her to the wolves, and I’m not being overly dramatic. That was what it amounted to. This would keep the men in line, when they saw that he had no trouble throwing his own favorite toy into the pit…and the girls would stay in line when they saw this as well, understanding that she was his personal property, and yet he would turn on her so quickly. If he would do that to her,   
what would he do to the rest of them?” Lakshmi’s voice was hollow; very little emotion could be had except when she mentioned Alecta. It was as though she, as well as the others had pretty much come to terms with what happened in that place, but there were still moments when it all became too much.

“Mengele. When he grew tired of the usual things like strangling or choking us…her…something in her very nature drove him to create new things to do….”

“That’s easy to figure out Zaheer. They couldn’t break her down…she never screamed. She would look at them and dare them to do it again. She would do that so, for the few moments that they were busy with her, we got spared. She said that one of the worst things he ever came up with was the time he decided to chemically blind her. It wasn’t long before he started using it on the rest of us. But he perfected it with Lex.”   
Cossette looked at the floor as she spoke.

“Lex said it was awful, at least at first. The physical torture was one thing; she’d learned to deal with that. But to be blinded was worse. You couldn’t see what was coming; you didn’t have the time to mentally   
prepare for what was about to happen. But Mengele went back to the well one to many times.” 

“What is that supposed to mean?” Immogene looked at Hotch.

“He would use that so often on her. She got good. Even with her eyesight completely hindered she could tell you who was coming based on the sounds of their footsteps and the different ways they smelled…something about normal chemical make-up of the human body v/s the smell of the cheap eastern European ‘cologne’ that they wore. Chemistry is Ivory’s thing, usually. And she got to where she could tell what form of torture was about to be used based on the sounds the equipment that they used would make. She even stopped responding to the blinding. She would grin at them and laugh.”

“But then again, she wasn’t quite like the rest of us.” Ivory could tell she had struck a chord with Rossi by her statement.

“How do you figure that?” 

“Old man, her daddy had trained her for this most of her life.”

“All those years alone in that house with him…..he actually did her a favor in the long run, not that she’d ever tell him that. Beating her daily, the roaches and the spiders…little games of Russian roulette, dropping her down in the well, knowing full well that she was terrified of the dark…and of the snakes in the well. Yeah. Her father was quite the bastard in his own right. So, most of the things that Rasputin and his men did to her, she was well prepared for. We were just young, teenage girls that had never lived through anything like this. This case nearly ruined her mentally though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Agent Hotchner, Alecta is a better judge of human nature than you can imagine. She’s a damned good dancer, too. She can dance on a razors edge, for months. She had to show Rasputin enough fear that he thought he could really get over on her, to make him believe that he stood any chance in hell of getting close to her----the real her. But she had to keep enough fight in her spirit that he didn’t get bored with her. If he got bored with her, he would have turned on one of us…there’s even the chance that he would have even killed her when he was done with her. She had to really get into his head…that was a dangerous place to be. Rasputin…Vahid…whatever…he began to actually believe that she would ever fall in love with him in spite of the things he was doing. Lex took a lot so we wouldn’t have to, any of us.”

“Yes. And that is why it tears at us that Theo has done this wicked thing. We know better than anyone what she went through. She was not the only one. But she fails to remember all the things that she didn’t have to endure because Lex intervened. Perhaps some of the guilt over that as well as her own memories have driven her to this.”

“Enough of this, has anybody got any new information that we can use to stop them?”

“Yes ma’am, I have the address to the warehouse district that closest to the location they are thought to be traveling. It’s likely that Garcia will be arriving there shortly, anticipating their arrival.” Lynch sent the information that he had found to each of the team members cell phones.

“Thank you Mr. Lynch; stick around in case we call.”

“Of course sir. Whatever you need.”

The team loaded up into the SUVs to head to the location. Derek was driving one of them…of course he would. His baby girl was quite likely in danger, they needed to get there quickly and few people had a lead foot that weighed more. Director Vance as well as Hetti stayed behind to try to supervise things. In the shocker to end all, Strauss decided to go along. Once she thought about it, Rossi was really quite right. The bureau did owe something to Agent Davis, payment was long overdue. At the very least she could have the support of the section chief. In the meantime McGee and Callen had left the hotel, coming to FBI headquarters to allow McGee to aid Kevin Lynch better.

“You any good at this?” Lynch needed to know what kind of people were helping find his friend.

“Masters of Science in computer forensics from MIT…good enough for ya?” 

“It’ll do. You can sit over there.”

McGee nodded and took his seat and immediately got to work. He would be working on more finite things such as, where the two men---Vahid and Kazimir----had been in the last 12 years. What did their paper   
trail look like? He was trying to find anything he could, in case the time arose that they had to build a case against the traffickers; although, Tim had his doubts as to whether or not the men would see the inside of   
a court room. If most of the agents had their way, especially Rossi, and without a doubt Gibbs, the men would die on that ship or in the warehouse.

Meanwhile, Garcia had arrived at the warehouse. She knew she’d never make the ship on time before it left the docks to head out this way, so she drove straight here. She only had a few minutes to spare. Pen parked away from the building and walked up, checking for any guards that might be close by. Pen might not believe in guns, but just for this one time, she had two in her bag that was strapped to her back. As well as the two guns she had a couple of stun guns….no sense in wasting ammo, she wasn’t sure how much she would need. And she also had a couple of blades packed….she had no intention of using the guns unless she was given no other choice. Alecta would be proud…as it was Garcia had a dagger in a holster around her waist. The stun gun was ready to go. Pen really hoped she didn’t personally have to kill anybody, even if it was a dirty trafficker; Pen was usually a pacifist. But, if the situation called for it, she had been trained in what to do…the FBI should train so well as the Agnes’…most of them got the same kind of training that actual assassins, and they were usually trained by real assassins…if you want something done right after all. Kong helped to train Garcia after she had been brought into the fold, and that was one dude you didn’t want to meet in a dark ally.

As Garcia made her way around the perimeter she kept track of how many steps it took to get from point A to point B. As she went she began to text the information to Hotch’s cell phone so he could inform the group; she knew better than to send it to Derek’s phone, he would be driving…like a bat outa hell likely. She was also sending them information about where there were possible entrances such as doors or windows or even air vents if she happened to come across one. Matter of fact there was a window and a door about 15 steps just ahead. Pen could walk under the window without having to duck; it was almost seven feet off of the ground, she sent this information on to Hotch as well. Coming up on the door she stopped and pressed her back against the wall behind her and waited for a moment or two, listening for footsteps before continuing on. Once in a while Pen tried to remember to look up and check as much of the roof line as she could see from her position. Finally, Pen arrived at a point that she thought would be safe to enter by. It was a small, mostly forgotten door; there was one closer to the loading dock of the warehouse, but she passed on that figuring that it would be loaded down with armed men who were waiting for the ship to arrive. She was trying to stay away from the end of the building that faced the port, there would be guards crawling all over that…but she did manage to get a decent shot of it with her camera phone when she made a pass near that end once….sent that to Rossi’s phone. Garcia entered through the door she had chosen to go through, luckily she brought a decent flash light with her; the room she entered was dark.

On the ship preparations were being made for landfall. Once at the dock Rasputin had his men unload Alecta’s twin daughters and Jazzy. They were taken inside immediately and stored in a small room on the third floor. Luckily this room had at least one large bed in it in case the children got tired. There was no telling what the bed had been used for in past visits, but Alecta didn’t have time to worry about that now. She had all she could do to figure out a way out of this. On the ship she had broken the window out of her little ‘cell’ and caught the attention of one of the guards. When he made his way through the door to check on her, she was waiting on him. After a short struggle she managed to snap his neck with the grip she had on him with her thighs…yes she was popular. She had stolen a set of keys off of the man as well as a walkie-talkie, and two guns and some ammunition…she also swiped his hunting knife, not that she need that, she had her own blade; but back up was always a wonderful thing. She had managed to hide the items quickly enough. The pants she was wearing were somewhat baggy, and inside of them was a built in holster that could hold the guns and some ammo. The blade she had hidden in her bra with the other one….What? Her girls were big; her bra could hold all sorts of things. Why should she not use it to her advantage? And more to the point, nobody would know it was there unless she was in a position that she had to take her clothes off; and let’s face it, if things got that far it was too late for whoever she was aiming at.

Rachel was dragged to a room on the second floor…there was a sofa in there…if she got desperate for some sleep. There were four men left to guard her as well as four that were guarding the smaller three girls.

Alecta was hauled to this other room on the first floor; it was toward the left rear of the ground floor. On her way through she had enough time to glimpse that there were shipping containers that were stacked all over the place. Some of the containers that were stacked near the top likely held the various goods that were being shipped and used as cover for the real operation. The bottom containers, at least many of them   
were the ones that held the human cargo. She noticed the pad locks on the doors. She already made up her mind to get her hand on a pair of bolt cutters or a sledge hammer if she had the time. On the way through to the ground floor, Alecta looked up and noticed the second floor also had shipping containers that had been loaded into various areas there. Upon passing by an open area of crosswalk above her, her eyes caught a particular contain; the markings on it were quite strange. Something about them was familiar to her, but she couldn’t explain how. She didn’t like being out of the loop. Once they arrived to the room that she was going to be stowed in, Rasputin gave his men orders, orders she recognized; so it began. 

As soon as Rasputin left and shut the door behind him, Alecta became aware of just how precarious her position was. If she stood there and did nothing the men were going to rape her. But if she fought them, it would draw unwanted attention to the room. She was caught between a rock and a hard place. Alecta didn’t expect this so soon. She only hoped that Rachel was faring better than she was right now. “Oh shit!” she thought to herself. “That’s where he’s going. He’s going after her to get to me.” Suddenly, Alecta’s mind was made up for her. She couldn’t let this go. 

Slowly, Alecta ran her hand up under the hem of the tank top she was wearing. The handle of the hunting knife was sticking out from underneath the band of her bra, just between the ‘girls’. The men foolishly had their backs to her. Apparently this was a fairly knew crew, the old ones would have known better. Quietly she pulled the knife out of her bra and crept closer and closer to the men that were talking about what form of action to take. There was one man that was closer to her than the rest. He didn’t seem too bright; he was too far away from the rest of his herd. He seemed to be the weakest link in Alecta’s eyes…perhaps that’s why he was left behind. Rasputin knew he was a lost cause and wanted to see if she would help him weed out any undesirables. Quietly, ever so quietly, Alecta walked up behind him and stabbed him three times in rapid fire succession in his back, as he began falling to the floor, she cut his throat before he could scream out in pain.

The other men turned around to see Alecta there, wiping the man’s blood on her pants leg.

“Kiril, your man on the ship, said to tell you he was sorry that he wouldn’t be making it to the dance. What was this one’s name?” Alecta looked up at the remaining three men with a dare in her eye, almost as if she was bored with this game already. As one of the men came running towards her she brought her bad ankle up and clacked his jaw really well, sending him sprawling to the floor on his back.at which time she pounced on him and quickly twisted his neck, killing him. 

“Next!” 

The other two men took off running out of the room.

“Why are you running? I was only just now starting to have some fun. I see, we’re going to play hide and seek now. Very well, I’m good at this game, too.” Alecta taunted the men as she ran out of the room after them, blade in hand.

As she made her way through the maze of shipping containers she thought of the set of keys that she had stolen off of the dead man on the ship. She began trying the keys on the locks of some of the containers.   
They weren’t working. “Damn!” she cursed in a whisper; just her luck. About this time she spied an emergency sign on the wall, under the sign was a glass enclosed emergency fire escape kit with some gear in it. Eureka! There was a fireman’s ax in the kit with the gear. Alecta sent up a silent thank you to God. She broke the glass with her elbow, that was gonna bleed a bit; small loss.

Taking her newly acquired weapon she went in search of a place to start. As she closed in on a container she thought she heard some footsteps. Moving stealthily she came upon Garcia, who was moving as quietly as she was. They glanced at each other for a moment, and then Alecta threw an arm around Pen and hugged her tight.

“I am so damn glad to see you.”

“You’re bleeding…”

“Unimportant right this minute. He had the three small girls upstairs, on the third floor. I’m not sure what room. But to be sure it’ll be a room away from any windows, with only one door in or out. Rachel is on the second floor. She can fend for herself for the moment. Get to the third floor. If I know Sofie, and I’m pretty sure I do, she’ll be giving the men an earful, and Emma will be reaching her limit of how much more she can put up with her sister starting trouble. I don’t want them to start something they can’t finish. And Jazzy has been through quite enough this last week; I’m not sure how much more she can take. Just get the kids and get the hell outa here; get as far from here as you can.”

“Cool. I know a possible way or two out. Here, take this.” Garcia went to hand Alecta a one of the stun guns she had packed.

“You keep it, I’ve got all I can carry right now. Just get the kids and go.”

“The teams will be here soon enough. Be careful.”

With that, Garcia took off; Alecta had to pray that Kevin didn’t come, or that if he did, he was going to make it out of this alright. He had to come out of this in one piece; she’d lost everything and everyone else of any importance to her, well not Rachel and the girls. 

Alecta began trying to bust the lock on the first container she had come to. Little did she know that the directors of both the FBI & NCIS had called in massive back-up. The Coast Guard was taking care of the docks,   
making sure that the ship, or any other ship that they may have at their disposal didn’t come in or out of the area. They were backed up by members of the Navy. The director of the FBI had called in several squads of the local boys to help out. There were some members of the local law enforcement that were being used to set up road blocks in case anyone tried to flee on land. There were a couple of Marine snipers that were in positions on rooftops of other buildings surrounding the larger warehouse. It would only be later that Alecta would wonder how on earth they had found the time to call out the Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard…not to mention the couple hundred heads of locals. And this was on top of the crew that her girls could put together. She would sit in her hospital room later after this was all over and wonder just how many damned favors she was going to owe people this time.

But, for right now, duty called. After busting the lock open on that first container she opened the doors on it to find it piled deep with young girls, maybe about 50 or 60 of them. None of them were much older than 14, if they were even that old. And they huddled together; girls from various nations of the developing world, all huddled together out of fear of who was coming after them now. Alecta had to prepare herself.   
There were always one or two girls in each container that had been murdered at the very beginning as an example to the others that they better behave or they would wind up dead, too. This was a sad fact she knew first hand. But in the end, under most circumstances, those that had been sacrificed early got out so much luckier than the ones that lived. Most times the girls that lived were left in the hands of the traffickers indefinitely. Sure there was always some task force being put together to shut down a ring here or there. But there were always more traffickers than law enforcement. And there were a lot of girls that slipped through the cracks. Not today. Not today. 

Alecta began speaking in one language and then the other, in the hopes that at least a few of the girls in the container would understand and could help translate for the rest. 

Once she told the girls who she was a few of them seemed to calm down and understand. One even went so far as to tell Alecta that she had heard of her and that she would help her with the girls in the containers. This girl told Alecta that, as far as she could tell she was one of the older girls, she was nearly 17. She had been in ring for two years already and over time she had picked up a few words here and there of some of the other languages.

Alecta agreed to this and gave the girl one of the knives she carried, and then she instructed the girl to help her find some more of the emergency kits and some axes. Not only would the extra axes help some of the other girls bust open the locks, but they would also provide weapons of a sort to the girls. Alecta explained to the first group of girls that it wouldn’t take long for Rasputin and his men to figure out what was going on, so they had to work quickly. And she also warned them that some of them may die for what they were about to help her do. Each and every girl standing before her took out pendants hanging from small chains and began to put them around their necks.….they were St. Agnes pendants. Where had the girls gotten them? This puzzled Alecta deeply. But she didn’t have time to dwell on this; she took this as a sign from each of the girls that they understood the risks and that they felt it was worth it. Alecta gave the girls the order to split up and begin to open as many containers as they could as quickly as they could, but to be careful. Then, with a single tear sliding down her cheek, she made her way to find her daughter, Rachel. The best that she could hope for was that whatever God these girls believed in was watching over them.  
One of the girls had followed Alecta; the girl told her that she would be an extra set of eyes and ears for her. As they rounded one of the corners around a container they were confronted by a rather large man with a huge gun. The girl yelled at Alecta in her native language to run, that she would handle him. With that the girl took off; not one to argue the finer points of war, Alecta continued to head for the stairs. The young girl that had been her aide had decided to take the man on a wild goose chase that ended with him being brought down by about eight of the girls together and killed. 

Alecta got to the top of the stairs and began to move in and out of the stacks of containers and wooden crates that were littered all over. About 30-45 feet into the search, Alecta came face to face with one of the lackeys for Rasputin. She turned to run; she didn’t want to fight any more than she had to. But the guy grabbed her from behind. Alecta couldn’t get a good center of balance. She was struggling. Through her struggles she was able to make the guy back up into the crates hard, hitting his head….that got him off balance enough that she was able to use the momentum to send him toppling over the railing…it was a solid 40ft drop. But in the meantime she went over, too. When she was going over she reached out her hands as quickly as possible to try to grab for the railing, but she was too late, she couldn’t reach for it. Knowing she was going to hit the ground she let out a shocked scream.

“I gotcha girl,’ she felt hands grab her.

Alecta looked up and Kevin was leaning almost completely over the railing, and had caught her hand at just the last second. Kevin was in danger of going over the railing while trying to pull her up.

Morgan and Hotch both grabbed him by his feet and shoulders to help pull both of them back over the railing. Between the three men they were able to get her back on the right side of the rails. 

She looked over the rails, “Whoa.”

“Where’s Garcia?” 

“She asked me where the kids were, my daughters and Jazzy. I told her they were on the 3rd floor. I told her to get to them and get out as quickly as she could. Then I got sort of sidetracked. Alecta looked back over the railing as she said this.

“And I have already busted open one of the containers on the ground floor. The girls from inside of it are around here somewhere. They said they wanted to fight; so they all grabbed weapons and started helping out. I haven’t had a chance to get to the rest yet, of course.”

“What’s up here?”

“Well for one this is the floor they are keeping my Rachel on…I am guessing it’s in a room just towards the back and to the left. And after I get her out, there’s a container I need to check. It has strange markings on it, I recognize them but I don’t understand them. I have to open it.”

“For now, you work on getting to Rachel, Morgan you go check on Garcia. Rossi and I will start busting open containers….”

He was cut off by Alecta throwing up a cautious hand. “No offense, but these kids will be terrified of you; most of them don’t speak a word of English. Take some of the other girls with you. Give me just a moment.”

With Hotch’s nod of approval, Alecta went over to the side of the railing and looked over; spotting one of the girls she had just freed she shouted down to them in their native language and told her to go with Hotch and Rossi and that she needed to spread the word to the other girls. The young girl nodded and smiled in agreement. 

“Go on then…oh if you don’t have bolt cutters, the girls can let you borrow a fireman’s ax…there are conveniently placed emergency kits all over the place.”

“Come on ma, let’s go get Rachel, yeah.”

Alecta nodded and took off with Kevin down the way. Morgan went on up to the third floor to hunt down Garcia; he was followed closely by Tony and Callen. 

“When did you guys pull up?” Alecta began some small talk as she and Kevin wove their way through the remaining maze.

“Oh just a couple minutes ago. Damned lucky for you we did, wouldn’t you say?”

“I suppose you might be right…Hush. We’re getting close, get ready.”

As they rounded the corner, they looked into the open doorway of the room they expected their daughter to be in. Rasputin was sitting there watching one of his men beat the girl. She wouldn’t tell him what he wanted to know. He kept asking her how she had picked up his trail. Rasputin new for a fact that he had covered his tracks and those of his ‘business’ really well. He wondered how in the world a young woman of nearly 25 years old, with no background in computers to speak of could possibly track him down. And more to the point, why would she want to find him.   
Rachel wasn’t cooperating. She kept laughing at him. 

“Momma said you hit like a bitch. I just never imagined she was right.” She challenged the man that took a swing at her. 

Kevin looked to his left where Alecta was standing about to throw a dagger across the way; Rachel saw this and began to talk more trash to the guy that was smacking her around, distracting both men as well as she could, giving her mother the moment she needed to take aim.

Alecta drew her dagger, took aim, and then slung it for all she was worth. The dagger buried between the shoulder blades of the man that had been beating her daughter. Before Alecta could do anything more, Rasputin had run over and grabbed Rachel by the hair and dragged her out of the chair; her hands were tied behind her back and her feet were bound. He thought he was safe. He couldn’t see his own folly. 

“Such a stupid man,” Alecta mumbled to Kevin quietly.

About that time, Rachel raised her feet up and wrapped them around Rasputin’s neck. She didn’t have nearly the grip that she had hoped for so the best she could do was to flip him over and get him off of her. It was good enough, she rolled away from him and that allowed Kevin to take a shot at Rasputin. The shot was taken quickly, without much thought as to the level of damage that it would do, and on top of it all Rasputin had gotten up to start running. The shot merely grazed him.

Alecta was going to go after him, but Kevin stopped her saying that there was enough back up out there that he couldn’t possibly get by them. Alecta wasn’t so sure. This is almost exactly what happened last time, and he had gotten away, and then she lost her family. But Kevin said it, so it must be true. And besides she wanted to get her kids the hell away from this place. 

They made their way up to the third floor to check the progress there. Morgan and Kong and Garcia met them on the way up, they were headed down with the kids. Sofie launched herself out of Morgan’s arms into her mother’s.

“Mommy, I miss you. We can go home now?” 

“Yes baby, we’re getting out of here; all of us. Are you and your sisters alright?” Alecta was checking Sofie out real quick. 

“Mommy, they didn’t do nuffin. They just made us stay in da room, that’s all, promise.” Emma looked into her mother’s eyes to signify that everything she said was the truth.

“Alright then, let’s get you three outa here. Jazzy, come on darling.” In her other arm, Alecta took Jazzy and carried her along with Sofie. Jazzy was babbling on about how Sofie kept nagging the guards, asking them all sorts of questions; silly things really, like ‘what is the Russian word for dead meat?’ 

“Sofie, why did you need to know the Russian word for ‘dead meat’?”

“Well mommy…I told them I wanted to know what name to call them properly after you were finished wiff ‘em.”

Kevin had to laugh. He couldn’t help it; as did Morgan. And even Kong and Garcia got a good chuckle off of that one.

“God, that’s your kid alright.” Kevin said through tears of laughter.

“You’re not helping.”

As they came back to the second floor, Alecta handed Jazzy and Sofie off to the others.

“What are you going to do?”

“I have to open that container, if it’s the last thing I do, I have to open it. It’s driving me crazy.”

“Fine, we’ll take the kids. You be careful. Don’t get your fool self killed.”

“I’ve told you before….”

“I know, I know. You can’t kill someone that’s already dead. Just don’t push it girl, ya hear.”

“Just go. Get them outa here.”

“Mommy.”

“Emma, you and the girls go with Mr. Kevin and the others, I’ll be right behind you soon.”

Emma knew better than to believe her mother. Even at four years old there was something inside of her that told her this wasn’t going to end well. But she just nodded her head in compliance. Whatever her mother   
had planned to do was dangerous enough; Alecta didn’t need to worry about whether or not her daughters were safe. Rachel took Emma and held her tightly, she knew the little girl was worried, and she knew that Emma had every right to feel that way. Rachel knew this was likely a suicide mission, even if Alecta didn’t plan it to be that way. Her mother was just stubborn. It was a genetic trait, she guessed. And after what these   
people had done to her the first time around, Rachel couldn’t say she blamed her for wanting to see it finished; but not at the risk of her own life. 

The small group made their way down the steps carefully, quietly. If they attracted any unwanted attention, Kong and Morgan with a little help from Kevin would see to it while Garcia and Rachel got the kids to a safer area. Alecta took off in the direction of the odd shipping container.

Once they were down on the first floor, Rachel looked up to the landing on the second floor not far from where they had just been, she saw movement, and narrowed her eyes to look closer. She saw that it was Theophano…one of the lucky seven. But she was alone, and she was heading in the direction of her mother.

“Ivory told us that they suspect Theo may have double crossed your mother,’ Morgan told Rachel. 

In that moment Rachel handed Emma to Kong and took off back up the stairs. If that girl had turned on her mother, Rachel would make her pay dearly.

Catching up to Alecta, “Where are you going ma’ma?” 

“Oh Theo, you frightened me. There’s this container up ahead, it has strange markings on it, and I want to find out what it’s about. Come on, you can help me.”

Theo smiled at Alecta and she received one of Alecta’s gentle smiles in return. For a split second there was a piece of Theo that hated what she had become; but there was not enough hate to stop her from her task.

They made their way to the container; Alecta was a few steps ahead of Theo. 

“I can’t let you open that door, it can’t happen.”

Alecta turned around to see Theo glaring at her. “You can’t LET me. Little girl let me remind you of who I am. Nobody has ever LET me do anything. I have to find out what is in that container and I will damn well do it, you can either help or step aside.”

“Don’t make me do this, please.”

“Don’t make you do what? Move girl you’re in the way.”

Alecta pushed her way past Theo and began to take the last few steps to the container.

Suddenly, Theo was upon her. Theo came up behind her and shoved her hard against the door of the container, knocking Alecta off of her feet. Alecta turned onto her back and looked around for a quick second to take stock of her surroundings. She saw Theo coming at her with dagger in her hand. Alecta braced her hands behind her, and planted her feet on the ground, and then used her momentum to flip back up to a   
standing position. As Theo came at her again, she kicked at her, knocking Theo off her feet momentarily.

The fight continued, each fighter was perfectly matched as far as skill level goes. It was blow for blow, until Alecta spotted movement out of the corner of her eye. This split second distraction is all that Theo   
needed, she grabbed a pipe that had been laying off to the side in the floor and busted Alecta in the back of the head one good time, this caused Alecta to crumple to the floor. Once Alecta was down and in a prone position, Theo leapt onto her then and began stabbing her multiple times.

As it turns out the movement that had taken Alecta’s focus off of her fighting was Rachel coming around the bend. She saw Theo attacking her mother, but before she could get to Theo to stop her a shot from nowhere rang out, there were two shots fired, one entered Theo’s chest, the other pierced her stomach.

The power behind the shots caused Theo’s body to fly backwards off of Alecta’s. Rachel got down on her mother’s left side and began checking for a pulse and trying to stop the bleeding. As she did so she looked around to see if she could tell who took the shots; but it was dark in the distance, and she couldn’t make anything out. Who took the shot didn’t much matter, although Rachel wanted to thank them profusely for giving her an opportunity to save her mother. There was so much blood and Rachel began to panic.

“HELP! SOMEBODY COME HELP MOMMA!”

Morgan had instructed Kevin to go with Garcia and the children and that he and Kong would go back in to see what the yelling was about. By now most of the containers had been opened by the all the law enforcement and military back up that had come forward to help, and the young girls in them had been let out and led to a safer place. Everything was happening so fast, it was quite chaotic.

As Kevin and Garcia grabbed the three little girls and were running for an SUV, they were caught up by Rasputin, he had grabbed Sofie, snatched her right out of Garcia’s arms. He was holding the little girl and wouldn’t let her go. Kevin had put Jazzy and Emma down, shoving to them to Garcia making sure they were all behind him. 

“Come on put the kid down. You don’t need her for anything.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, there’s an even larger market for little ones like her than there is for the girls I already have. Besides, I’ve got what I came for. She’s in that warehouse right now. Everybody else is merely collateral.” 

Kevin could tell Sophie was getting upset. She was getting angry that this man had come after her mommy. But she was also a little afraid, because for all her bravado, for all that she was Alecta’s daughter she was   
still a four year old little girl.

“Honey, what was your mommy saying about people who messed with you, what did she say you should call them?”

A bright smile came to the child’s face as it dawned on her what he was saying. Sofie bit down hard into one of the hands of the man that was holding her too tightly. Rasputin began yelling in pain and all but threw the child down, Kevin catching her. Rasputin began to recover and rushed forth, aiming for Kevin and the little girl with his gun. Kevin turned over, covering Sofie as much as he could with his body, bracing for the shot. Two more shots rang out causing Kevin to flinch, thinking he was hit for sure. Garcia looked up from the scene in front of her to see Hotch and Rossi standing there holding their guns on Rasputin, daring him to make a move. This was silly because he was fatally shot, he would likely bleed out in a matter of moments.

It was only then that everyone happened to hear the screams from inside.

“Rachel!” Kevin leapt up and ran for the building. Morgan and Kong were already in there closing in on Rachel and Alecta. JJ and Emily came over to Garcia to help her with Jazzy, Emma, and Sofie. 

Sofie was of course beside herself, her mommy was hurt. Jazzy was hugging her. Emma was sitting there with silent tears rolling down her cheeks, just watching the building.

“I knew mommy would get hurted, I knew.” That was all she said and she said it so quietly that you would almost have missed it.

“What are you talking about sweet heart?” JJ crouched in front of the stoic little girl.

Hotch, Rossi, and Emily were soon gathering around with JJ. Garcia and the other two little girls were sitting next to Emma. 

“When we were in da room…the bad mens said that they were gonna make mommy go see her old family…that they were gonna let her go see her other babies. And then mommy said that there was that strange box that had the different words an’ stuff on it. Mommy nosey, she has to find stuff out. And she left us….and now mommy got hurted.”

She wasn’t crying and screaming like Sofie, Emma after all was the quiet child, the thinker. But her reaction was somehow even sadder than Sofie’s; perhaps it was the fact that she had, at four years old, accepted   
the inevitable that one day her mother just wouldn’t come back.

“JJ, you and Prentiss stay with Garcia and the kids. Rossi, come on.”

By now the building had been pretty much cleared. Most of the traffickers had been rounded up. It seemed as though there was merely a skeleton crew here; their larger contingent was at another location. Word   
was sent ahead to other law enforcement agencies, and other FBI field offices to be on the look-out and to give no quarter. The young girls that had been removed from the shipping containers were being sent to the hospital. Mac was on his way there, since he was after all a doctor. He would be shortly joined by Dr. Mallard to aid the hospital staff in looking out for the girls.

Reid had taken off some moments ago, he had received a call from McGee and Lynch about some things that they had found with the help of Abby and Eric. He wanted to get back to headquarters to look into it.  
When Hotch, Rossi, and Kevin got up to the second floor they saw Rachel still bent over her mother, hugging her tightly to her, rocking back and forth. Theo was still bleeding out all over the place, but still alive. 

Rossi went over to Theo, while Hotch went with Kevin over to Alecta.

“Why did you double cross Alecta that way?”

Theo’s breathing was, of course, labored…that bullet in her lung couldn’t be helping much.

“She lied to me….” She started coughing. “She told me that by doing the work that we had set out to do, that I would begin to forget the past, that I would feel better. It was all a lie. Nothing ever changed. I still   
remembered everything they did. I remember every time they….put their hands on me….I have never felt better, I feel the same as I did before. I couldn’t take it anymore…she had to pay for that…”

Theo began coughing up blood, and laid her head back on the ground and her eyes were still open as she took her last breath.

Hearing footsteps coming closer, Rossi pulled out his gun just in case. Looking up he saw Gibbs with his sniper rifle slung over his back. Smiling at Gibbs, “Damned good shot old man.”

“I just hope I got there in time.”

Meanwhile over by Alecta, Rachel was nearly inconsolable. Her mother was bleeding entirely too much. Kevin was calling for EMT’s. Hotch took her hand and began to talk to her to try to keep her conscious until they got there. 

“Boss man, Kevin’s gonna lose it. Just tell him….tell him….tell him, I’ll be back.”

With that, Alecta’s grip on Hotch’s hand loosened and she fell unconscious.

Rachel began shaking her trying to wake her up, and the EMT’s finally arrived to put her on the gurney. But there was no sign of life from her. Rossi spun around to see what was going on. You could read the upset on his face. You didn’t have to be a profiler to know exactly what he was thinking; this was one of the few times that Rossi was completely transparent.

The EMT’s began to get her down to the ground floor and out to the awaiting ambulance. Hotch told everyone he would ride with them. He figured Kevin or Rachel either one would be too distraught to be viable candidates for that trip. Before he left, he ordered Rossi to get someone to open that last container.

“She may have just died trying to get it open; it meant something, now we have to find out what.”

Rossi merely nodded as Hotch walked past him. Gibbs was barking an order to get some of the back-up they had wrangled to come in with bolt cutters to cut the locks and chains off of the latch of the door.

Once they got the latch busted open they opened the doors of the container. Staring back at Rossi and Gibbs was an abnormally tall blonde haired man and three similarly blonde haired children; two young girls of about 16 or 17, and a boy, close in age to the two young girls.

Gibbs spoke to them in Russian, taking a chance. One of the girls looked at him and spoke back. Rossi watched in amazement. He immediately knew who these people were. He had seen a man, abnormally tall with blond hair…he had seen him in Los Angeles. His name was Sergei, and he was completely identical to the man in front of him. And he was taken back to a conversation that was had about Sergei and his twin brother Yuri.


	21. Who Are You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alecta's mother is alive after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pay attention to the mention of Ares, God of War somewhere about the middle of the chapter. You will be seeing him mentioned again sometime in the future....not in this story...But I am in the process of still writing the sequel to this one. The sequel will be called "I'm Coming Home". I will warn you, it is a huge story (so far I have 51 chapters and over 200,000 words, and still counting).

Everybody was at the hospital. That waiting room had never been so full. From the FBI there were a number of people. Hotch, Rossi, JJ, Prentiss, Reid, Garcia, Morgan, Chief Strauss, and the director. Then you had both NCIS teams. Gibbs, Tony, McGee, Ziva, Ducky, Hetti, Director Vance, Callen, Sam, Deeks, Kensi. As if all those people weren’t enough you also had six out of the ‘Lucky 7’, those that were still alive---Immogene, Ivory, Cossette, Oona, Zahir, and Lakshmi. Some of them had their own injuries, mainly scratches, and a couple busted lips…nothing that couldn’t be fixed with a couple stitches or some band-aids. None of them had taken the time to go home and clean up….they all still had the grime of battle on them. Rachel had been patched up and still sat with her clothes soaked in her mother’s blood. She wasn’t looking at anybody, she wasn’t really speaking, she was just lost in her own thoughts. She wasn’t in shock as much as just thinking.

The twins had been taken by one of the older children to a children’s waiting room to color and play to keep them away from the misery around the adults. Neither child wanted to leave; Sofie, of course put up the worst of the fights. Emma, calm and stoic as ever just stated she didn’t want to leave her mommy as big fat tears rolled down her little cheeks. They were the saddest sight, to be sure.

Gibbs had brought in Yuri and his three children. They were being checked out. Ziva had gone with the girls, Sasha and Eva, and explained to them about the sexual assault kit that they wanted to run, just as a precaution. Both girls understood. They cooperated fully although they didn’t care for it; they understood why it was needed. They were much more cooperative than their mother. According to their preliminary tests, doctors concluded that the girls had been unharmed, mostly. They still had to wait on the results from the sexual assault kits. Oleg, Alecta’s son had been in a few fights. 

Yuri had a rougher time of it while they were held by the Vahid (Rasputin) and the traffickers. He was beaten numerous times, and he had been permanently blinded. 

Alecta was still in surgery, they were trying to stitch up the stab wounds and close up the puncture to one of her lungs. And once that was done there was still a good chance she would be unconscious for a while, she still had that massive head wound from being hit with that pipe. As far as doctors could tell she had been stabbed up to 25 times, in rapid succession. The surgeon in charge of her care had come out of the O.R. at nearly two hours in to give the low down about what was going on. During his run down of her injuries and what they were doing to fix them, Reid got a call to his cell phone and stepped away to take that. After a few quick moments he closed his phone and came back to the group and spoke quietly to the FBI director. The director stood and walked with Reid, without saying a word to any of the remaining team members. Rossi was watching them closely, curious.

“What do you think that could be about?”

Rossi looked at Prentiss as if she had voiced the very question in his own head.

“Yeah, no joke. The kid is usually so talkative when he’s nervous or upset about something and yet he’s strangely quiet.”

“Well he’s been like this since the warehouse; with any luck it’ll be over soon and he’ll just tell us what he’s up to.”

“It better be damned soon, we have enough to worry about without him wondering off.”

“Rossi…”JJ tried to calm him down, but he just got up and stepped away, walking over to a window to look out as far as he could see.

“Let him go JJ.” Hotch shook his head at her.

Garcia never stopped pacing.

“Baby girl, at least take those heels off for crying out loud, you gonna turn the linoleum into Swiss cheese otherwise.” 

Without even arguing, Garcia pulled off her heels and handed them to Derek who took them and sat them in the chair beside of him. Not even missing a beat, Garcia went back to pacing. 

Mac and Kong were simply looking at the floor, daring it to move out from under them. Immogene was sitting in a chair with her knees pulled to her chest; her feet were resting on the edge of her seat. She had laid her head down on her knees and was just staring at nothing. All six girls were so quiet….it was like they were afraid to make a sound, that all of their energy was focused on making Alecta better.

Kevin was sitting beside his daughter, holding her hand, stroking it. This had to be a strange time for him. Finally having Alecta back in his life after about 25 years, meeting the daughter he never really knew before…but now this, possibly loosing Alecta all over again. Hotch was glad he wasn’t in Kevin’s position right now. Oh, he had been several years ago, when Hailey was killed. That nearly did him in. And there was a part of Hotch that could tell you word for word, second by second, what Kevin was feeling…but there was a part of Hotch that was also unsure of what Kevin was going through…that kept him from reaching out to the man as he probably should. He knew that when he went through his time, he got so tired of people pandering to him. ‘I can’t imagine what you must be going through’. ‘God never gives you more than you can handle’. Hotch had gotten so tired of hearing all of that he could scream. Maybe it was right, maybe God didn’t give you more than you could handle. But there were still the odd days when Hotch thought maybe God thought to highly of him….and he was certain that was a thought running through Kevin’s head as well. The only thing working to Kevin’s favor right now was the fact that Rachel was old enough to understand everything around her, and unlike with Jack, you didn’t have to sugar coat things for her. 

Morgan was busy trying to calm Garcia down. She was beside herself. One of the immortals was dead. Another was in surgery to save her life. To Garcia and the rest of the girls in the society the world was a colder, deader place than it had been less than 24 hours ago. Ivory didn’t even make the comment that they should have blown something up. She could have, there had been plenty of opportunity for it. But she had remained quiet on the subject. Zahir and Lakshmi were each holding their Agnes medallions in their hands, having taken the chains from around their necks to concentrate on the pendants. There were a few various religious odds and ends hanging from their chains as well; most of these had to do with the old Gods. An ankh of Isis, eye of Horus, you name it. Cossette had Alecta’s chain, it had been taken off during the ambulance ride and handed to Hotch; Hotch had given it to Cossette. Alecta’s chain had a figure of Anubis and a symbol for Ares, God of war. And of course the generations old medallion that was given to her by Impatiev.

“Damn! Impatiev, nobody has called him yet.” Hotch spoke the words aloud.

“No worries love, he has an eye on everything; he knows already. It is likely someone will be here by morning, or the next day.”

In just a few more minutes Reid came back with the director, there was a tall blonde haired woman walking between them. She wasn’t as tall as Reid or the director, but she was taller than Alecta. Nobody on the team could figure who she was.

“Kevin, who is she?” Prentiss thought to ask first. Without Alecta there, he was the only person that stood a chance of knowing.

“That’s…but no…she died…she’s…”

“Come on boy, spit it out. Who is she?” Rossi had come back around after hearing the new bit of conversation.

Walking up to the group, the woman spoke for herself, ‘Calm down Kevin, deep breaths. Sir, I am Rachel King; Alecta’s mother.”

There was a collective gasp from the others, and then it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some of the agents that Alecta has worked with in the past fill her mother in about what has been happening all these years. Mengele 2.0 meets his maker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn. (C.S. Lewis)
> 
> One has to pay dearly for immortality; one has to die several times while one is still alive.   
> (Friedrich Nietzsche) 
> 
> “She herself is a haunted house. She does not possess herself; her ancestors sometimes come and peer out of the windows of her eyes and that is very frightening.   
> (from "The Lady of the Haunted House” ― Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories)

Everyone stood staring in utter shock and disbelief. Kevin couldn’t stop himself he stepped closer and reached a shaky hand out and poked this woman’s cheek with a quivering finger. She was a real person alright.   
“  
My own daddy was there that night. He saw you laying there on the floor. You were dead.”

Kevin couldn’t wrap his brain around this. He was still shaking from the revelation. 

“My pulse was very faint, yes, that is true. But the paramedics had been able to revive me and keep me alive long enough to get me to the hospital.”

Suddenly, Kevin’s anger toward her flared up as he remembered all those damned years that Alecta was left alone in that house with her father. All those times….

“You evil witch.” Kevin’s new bout of anger was simmering, on the verge of boiling over.

“Daddy!”

“NO! She left Lex alone in that house with HIM! You have no idea what he did to her!” Kevin got angrier by the moment. Just then the doctor came out and called out for the people with Alecta Davis.

“This isn’t finished by a long shot old woman. Yes doctor.” Everyone whirled around to hear what the doctor had to say.

“Well, it’s taken what, five hours, but I think we stopped all the bleeding and stitched her up pretty well. We closed up a couple punctures to her lung from where the knife got her. Her head wound will be tricky.   
We’ve cleaned around the wound itself. But we are keeping her under observation until she regains consciousness to be safe. Right now she’s been taken to recovery, and we will be setting her up in her own room within the next hour or two. I or one of the nurses will come and talk to you at that time and tell you what room she’s in. For the next 12-24 hours I want to limit her visitors to just one person based around the fact that we will be in and out of there so much checking everything out. And on top of that, unconscious or not, we want to keep her stress levels low; having too many people in the room at one time might be too much for her right now.”

“Dr. have you heard anything else about the man and children that were brought in with her?”

“No, Agent Hotchner, I have not. I quite literally just took of my scrubs. I will find out who the physician is in charge of their care and have that person come and speak with you.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course, not a problem.”

“What the hell happened to her?”

Kevin whirled back around on the woman claiming to be Alecta’s mother, ‘No. You don’t have the right to ask anything about her. If you are her mother, you should be ashamed of leaving her in that house with   
him.” 

“Daddy, calm down.” Rachel, his daughter, was trying her best to keep him calm. But he was so blinded by anger and confusion right now he just jerked his arm from her grasp and stomped away. He had to get away from this ‘impostor’. There was a part of him that wanted this more than anything to be true. After all these years of loneliness, Alecta deserved to have her mother back. But there was a part of him that also believed this was some cruel joke. Alecta watched her mother die. She grew up in that house…all those years alone with her father. With the exception of his own parents and that elderly couple up the road, there was never anyone that tried to help Lex at all. She was alone with Jake and his friends for so long. And then to have to go through that trial alone! Surely she had his parents as well as Kevin himself sitting there giving her what moral support they could offer. But it wasn’t the same as having someone like your mother to be by your side.

As Kevin had rushed off to gather his thoughts, Mrs. King had turned to the others and repeated her question.

“What has happened to my baby?”

“It’s an awful long story, Mrs. King…”

“Call me Rachel, sir.”

“That could get confusing; my name is Rachel, too. Momma named me after you.”

“You’re…”

“Yes. I’m your granddaughter. Well, one of them.”

“You look just like me.” The older woman smiled at the younger.

“That’s what momma always told me.” The younger Rachel took a folded picture from her pocket. “We keep a copy of this in a frame at home. But this is a picture that mom has always carried around.”

Mrs. King took the folded up photo from the girl and suddenly dropped into a chair bringing her hand to her mouth to stifle a cry of surprise.

It was an old ragged photo of her, Mrs. King, holding a small Alecta. Mrs. King was lounging back across a sofa, Alecta’s head was resting on her shoulder, and the child was asleep in a little green ‘tinker-bell’   
costume that she had handmade for the child’s birthday. Mrs. King was looking up at the camera with a small, contented, smile on her face.

“Mrs. King, what is it?”

Mrs. King looked up from the photo, just staring at the FBI agent in front of her.

“I apologize. I’m Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner. Alecta works with me and my team. What is it about this photo?”

“I’m sorry. It’s just….this is the last photo that was taken before….Before it....This was taken at her fourth birthday. We had walked up the road to this little shack, these old people lived there. They were great people   
really. Kevin’s right. They were some of the only people that ever tried to help us. I had already baked a cake over there. I had to borrow that old woman’s stuff. We didn’t have food in the house for any of it. So I   
went to the old woman and asked her if she would help me bake my baby a cake for her birthday….of course she did. And she let me hide her little costume that I had made over there so she wouldn’t see it, and so   
I could make sure she’d get it. Jake would have taken it from her and torn it apart….he never let her have anything. The next day, the day of her birthday, I got her cleaned up and put her in the best clothes she   
had…we walked up the road to their house…Jake wasn’t going to be there. Apparently there was still some beer he hadn’t drank yet at the bar. It was just as well, things were more peaceful without him. When we   
got there, the little old lady had fixed a huge meal. She wanted Alecta and me to have one decent meal that week. We ate ‘til our stomachs ached….it was so good. I thought Alecta would bust wide open before she   
finished eating. We hadn’t had anything to eat in so long…we were just so hungry; that was the best tasting food we ever had. Afterwards, we let Alecta play for a bit, then, had some of the cake I had baked. The   
latter part of the evening I gave Alecta her present…I helped her put it on. She was so happy. She played so hard. It had been so long since I had seen her that happy. I just let her play ‘til she collapsed from   
exhaustion. It was barely a month later, on that afternoon that Jake tried to kill me. I never saw my baby again.”

Kevin had started walking back to the group and had stopped just around the corner and listened. Nobody knew he was back yet.

“Mrs. King, what happened? Why did you stay away? Alecta has beaten herself up for decades over what happened.”

“It wasn’t by choice. I came to in the hospital hours later. Jake was sitting there, a smug grin on his face; he started telling me I would never see my baby again. He had come up with a way to keep me from ever   
coming home or seeing her again. The day of the fight, when the cops were investigating, he had told them that there had been a break in and that I had gotten hurt trying to fight with the intruders. At the hospital   
he told the doctors that there were mental problems in my family and that I had been exhibiting signs of having problems and that he feared I might harm our baby. He made a good show of the whole story. That   
accompanied by a large donation, the doctors had no choice but to believe him. I was committed. He never allowed me to see her again.”

Kevin came from around the corner then, stooping down on one knee in front of her he began to apologize to her for his hasty behavior.

“You have nothing to be sorry for boy.”

“Yes, I do. Momma taught me better than to speak to somebody that way. I never knew. I should have guessed, I suppose. You never, in all the time we knew you left her alone with him. He just made us believe….”

“It’s alright boy. No worries. You have always looked out for her, that’s all you were doing now.”

“What happened before that fight? What caused Jake to snap?”

“And you are?”

“I’m Agent David Rossi.”

“Oh, hello. I can bet that Alecta has taken a liking to you. She always did like that old man up the road…Mr. Gatling. Yeah, Mr. Gatling. He was a WWII vet, he had actually been a medic in the war. He was always   
telling her these really neat stories about his time over there. Mr. and Mrs. Gatling, they were always wonderful to us. The quietest I ever saw her as a child was when she would sit up on his lap in his easy chair and   
listen to his stories while she ate her oatmeal cookie and drank her juice. You could give her juice, her cookie, and her old man and she would be quiet for hours….see.”

Mrs. King pulled an equally rumpled photo from her bag. It showed a very small Alecta, maybe two or three years old sitting in this old guy’s lap, out cold; her sippy cup with juice had been set on the table and the cookie she had been nibbling on was still in her right hand, her left arm tucked under her head as she rested her head against the old man’s chest. Old Mr. Gatling was fast asleep too, the book he’d been reading to her from forgotten lying open in his lap. And Alecta had her pacifier in her mouth.

“She looks just like the twins,’ Reid remarked.

“Yes, she does.” JJ agreed. 

“I have a few others. There aren’t many. We didn’t have much at our house, and it was rare that we were able to leave it. But I was able to get them. Jake made it so I couldn’t get released from the funny farm. And he   
threatened me that if I ever did come back to get her, he would kill her. I stayed away, out of fear for her safety. Kevin, how are the Gatling’s?”

“They passed, years ago. We were about 12. Lex took it really hard after Mrs. Gatling passed. It was rough enough after the old man died, she was practically inconsolable. But when the old lady died, she cried for   
days and days. She became even quieter than she had been before. She scared me; but I think she was afraid, too.”

“What do you mean ‘quieter than before’?” 

“After that fight, when you….she….she didn’t much talk to anybody. Any talking she did do was to either me or momma. She would hide behind you, shaking if a stranger came up and asked her a question.”

“Mrs. King, you never did explain what led up to that fight.”

“Oh, yes, I’m sorry Agent Rossi. But what has Alecta told you of that time?”

“Practically nothing ma’am. She’s has only been with us about two weeks. We’ve really only begun to scratch the surface of getting to know her.”

“Well, Agent Rossi, I should really leave that to her to tell. I shouldn’t speak on it before checking with her.”

Before anything else could be said a nurse came out to let them know that Alecta had now been moved to a private room. Kevin decide that Moira and Cinnamon should go first that way they could report back to   
the other members of their group just how she seemed. They were only in there a matter of a few minutes and they came back out. They were, of course, quite somber; even Moira, who usually had something witty to say. 

As they came back out and huddled together with the other member of the sisterhood, Kevin watched them.

“Who are those girls, Agent Hotchner?”

“Ma’am, those are some of Alecta’s…..”

“Friends. Mrs. King, they are friends of Lex’s.”

“Very well. Kevin you go in next. It would mean the most to her.”

“Awww, no ma’am. She has been waiting to have you back practically her whole life.”

“Yes, but you have always been by her side, one way or other; you should go in there and be with her now.”

“Well, if you say so. But I have some things to explain to you later, after everything calms down a bit.”

“Of course you do my sweet boy, but just go on now and sit with her for a while.”

“Yes ma’am.”

With that Kevin had gone down the hall to the room number that the girls had indicated to him. When he walked in, Alecta was so still and quiet. The only sounds in the room came from the machines that she was   
hooked up to that monitored her heart beat and breathing. She had a breathing mask over the lower portion of her face, covering from her nose down, the bottom of it resting around her chin area. And she was so   
pale, which in and of itself wasn’t completely unusual. Her hair was swept mostly over one shoulder with a few errant strands draped over the opposite shoulder. Immediately, Kevin walked over to the bed and climbed right up in there, laying most of his weight beside of her, wrapping his arms carefully around her loosely, resting his head right about where her heart was. It was within a few minutes that he had dozed off completely. A nurse had come in to check on things and found him there, eyes shut, tear tracks on his cheeks, not moving a muscle. She didn’t have the heart to wake him so she arranged an extra blanket to be brought for him.

Mrs. King and Agents Hotchner and Rossi walked to the door of the room and looked through the window. 

“This is why I really didn’t get angry at him earlier. He has always taken care of my baby, even when they were both small kids….and he was tired and cranky. It had probably been days, at least, since he had any   
decent sleep. I wanted him to have a few minutes of real sleep. And Alecta has always had nightmares, except with him; with him around, they don’t seem as bad as normal.”

The trio stood watching for a few more moments before Mrs. King turned around to go back to her seat. While she sat in contemplation she began to think about all the things she had heard thus far.

“Wait a minute. Back this train up. What twins? How many grandchildren do I have?” Mrs. King wondered out loud.

“Well, there’s six altogether. There’s me, I’m nearly 25. And then there’s the children she has by her first husband, Yuri; Sasha, Eva, and Olegsandr. Sasha and Eva are twins, they are nearly 17; Oleg is almost 15.   
Then there are the twins that she has by her second husband; Sofie and Emma, they are about 4.”

“And I take it that Kevin is your father.”

“Yes. Momma was about 16 when she finally had me. She ran away from…everything when she was 15. She was finally able to put Jake away for a long time; there was a trial. She was stuffed into foster care instead   
of being sent to live with the Easons. When she ran away she was already expecting me, but didn’t know it at the time. I had never actually met daddy until just earlier today. I’ve seen his picture, but never actually   
met him.”

“Why not?”

“Well, he was angry for a long time with momma for leaving like she did; well actually he was more angry at the fact that she never came back home…she wrote to him on numerous occasions to tell him about me,   
just to let him know…but he was so angry with her that he always sent all her letters back unopened…after a while she gave up. She still wrote to his parents and would send them pictures and stuff all the time.   
They always replied. He doesn’t know this yet, but on a few occasions, when they would take their vacations, they would come out to see us. They never told daddy, they always said that if he wanted to be stubborn   
then let him. But, I think, that his stubborn streak is over for now.”

“She named you after me, right?”

“Yes. She always missed you so much. She always showed me the few photos she has of you and told me ‘that’s your nana.’ She never let me forget it. She always tried so hard to be as good a mom to me as you   
were to her.”

“But how good of a mother was I after all?”

“Hey, look….none of that was down to you. It was all Jake’s fault. While you were allowed, you kept momma alive. She told me about all the times the two of you would have to eat peanut butter straight out of the   
jar, because there was no bread in the house…or the times ya’ll had to eat ketchup for days because there was no food in the house…and that Jake wouldn’t let you have enough to get decent groceries. She told me about you making little rag dolls for her out of the tatters of your dresses and clothes. I used to play with some of them. We still have them. Some of the eyes have fallen off, but they still do the trick. And the costume…that ‘tinker bell’ costume….she still has it. She keeps it put up so it doesn’t get dirty….but I’ve caught her taking it out and just looking at it; I think she tries to remember what things were like before it went horribly wrong…more than the usual. You did the best you could with a man like Jake.”

“What was she to you as a mom?”

“She was the best. Once we lived in this little studio apartment. It didn’t even have its own separate bedroom. The bed sat in one corner of the room. Then there was the open living room space. Once I was old enough to sleep in a grown up bed, momma would sleep on the floor or on the couch at night and give me the bed all to myself…it wasn’t anything more than a twin sized bed anyway. Our kitchen was so tiny; I think it would have fit on a stamp. There wasn’t a lot of room for groceries, which was quite alright, living in Los Angeles isn’t cheap, we couldn’t afford many groceries. And we didn’t have a lot of dishes and stuff anyway. There were a lot of nights we had to practically share dishes to eat off of. There were times our power got cut off…I always knew when this happened, because momma would say we were going to pretend we were camping for a while. Never mind the fact that I couldn’t figure out why, if we were camping, we would go next door to our neighbor’s apartment and use the facilities. But she never let me know how poor we were. Whatever money she made that didn’t go to trying to keep us alive she put into the bank for my college money. Then she got a better job and we could move into a bigger place. I was so glad for that new job. Then we could have enough food in the house for us both to be able to eat all the time. I can’t count how many nights I watched momma go to bed hungry because she let me have the last of the food…No matter how good the cook is, and momma is awesome, when I knew that she had to starve for me to eat, the food just tasted like sand. I was so happy for her with that new job. The food never tasted like dirt again. I didn’t have to hear her stomach growling in protest, I didn’t have to watch her work her fingers to the bone. She was always so tired. She never seemed to get enough sleep. And the nightmares would wake her up so much of the time if she did try.”

“My darling girl….”Mrs. King seemed to be distressed greatly by the story.

“Do you want to meet your other grandchildren?”

“Why, yes, of course.”

Rachel led her grandmother, also Rachel, to see the other grand-children. First she led them to see the twins, Sofie and Emma.

“We brought them down to color and play with the other kids that are….friends of the family, so to speak, for a while. Sofie gets so worked up sometimes, she’s a bit high strung. And Emma, she more calm but she   
was still quite upset about everything.”

“Oh my goodness, they look exactly like Lex did at that age.” Mrs. King put both hands up to her mouth to cover her surprise. You could see the emotions in her eyes though. “And you say there are others?”

“Yes, come with me, I will show you to them.”

Both Rachel’s walked down the hall to the room where Yuri was being kept over the next few days for observation. The man was quite dehydrated and he was under fed. He also had injuries, some old, some new   
that needed to be seen to. The three teenaged children were sitting around the room. His daughters flanked him, the boy sat in a chair near the foot of the bed guarding the small group should anything else   
happen. He was a young sentinel, but as it would turn out, quite well suited for the job. Rachel knocked gently on the door and the boy motioned for them to come in.

“Oleg, Sasha, Eva, this is….”

“Nana Rachel!” Sasha and Eva had said in an excited whisper. They ran to hug the woman. And Oleg had come along to add to the hug in a matter of moments.

“You know who I am?” 

“Yes,’ Sasha began to explain. “When we were little ma’ma used to show us pictures of you and say that you were her mother. She said that her daddy made you go to heaven. She always said you were one of the   
best moms in the universe. And then when the bad people made us go away from momma, daddy would tell us more about you that he had found out from momma.”

“Is this your father? What happened to him?”

Oleg looked forlornly back at his father, closing his eyes, and turning away. Even Sasha seemed to be at a loss for words. It was left up to Eva to explain it a little.

“Well when the bad people would come for us sometimes, daddy would fight them. He would never let them take us away, because of what they had done to momma a long time ago. He knows what they did, he   
never explained it to us much; he couldn’t talk about it. It would make him angry and sad. But he would fight them. They broke his arm or leg at any given time….”

“They took his eyes Nana….they took his eyes….” The boy Oleg finally broke in, his voice choked with tears. He may have been nearly 14, but he was still a boy, and there was no telling just exactly what he had seen. 

Mrs. King looked more closely at the giant man in the hospital bed and realized the boy was right. Yuri was permanently blinded, although his eyes were still physically in their sockets, he would never be able to see   
with them again. 

Mrs. King sat on the side of the bed for just a few minutes, holding Yuri’s hand and just thinking about what this man meant to her daughter. Finally, she made the decision to go back and check on Alecta.

“Kids I will come back to check on you a little later, but I want to go see how Lex is doing just now.”

“Go. And when you come back you will tell us how she is?”

“I can do you one better. What do you say that me and your sister sit with you daddy, and give the three of you a chance to go see her for a few minutes? I think that she might like that.”

“Yes. Could we?”

Mrs. King made it clear that she would do everything she could to reunite these children with Alecta.

As Mrs. King walked back down the hall towards the waiting room filled with her daughter’s friends, she noticed that Agents Hotchner and Rossi were out in the hall talking amongst themselves.

“What seems to be the problem men?”

“Mrs. King it’s nothing to….”

“Listen. My husband has been able to keep me from seeing my own child for nearly 35 years of her life. He has kept me locked up in an institution for that whole time. My granddaughter was the one that was able to   
grease the skids on getting me out. I’ve been away far too long, too many people have been allowed to hurt my baby. I won’t stand for it a moment longer. Now, gentlemen, what seems to be the problem?”

“Mrs. King, it seems that when we were taking a head count of the traffickers that were captured, both alive and dead, we came up one very specific member short.”

“Agent Hotchner, just what the hell are you babbling about man?”

“Mrs. King, perhaps it would be better if you stepped in here with us, so we can discuss this in private. Much of what we know, we have only learned in the last few days ourselves.”

“Very well Agent Rossi. I’ll go anywhere; just tell me what’s going on.”

Mrs. King followed the two men into a private conference room that was just a few steps down the hall from the waiting room. Here they discussed with her the present situation and how it tied into some   
undercover work that Alecta had worked on ages ago. They explained to her about Yuri and the children and what they knew with any certainty about them. Hotch and Rossi discussed with Mrs. King about Alecta’s   
involvement with the men that were known as Rasputin and Mengele.

“And that brings us up to where we are now,’ continued Rossi, ‘after doing a head count of the traffickers that we were able to capture alive, and counting the bodies of those that were killed in the raid, we have   
come up one short somewhere along the way.”

“Neither one of you is making much sense to me; whatever it is spit it out, I have the right to do what I can to protect my child. That was taken from me for far too long.”

Hotch spoke up then, “Mengele is still out there, Mrs. King. We are quite worried he will try to come back after your daughter. He has quite a profuse, if not perverted, knowledge of the medical profession. He could   
conceivably walk right into the hospital and slip on a lab coat and blend right in. Nobody would know what was wrong until it was too late. In her current condition, Alecta would be in no shape to fend for herself.”

“There’s a waiting room slam full of federal agents, Kevin is by her side, and I’m here….surely he wouldn’t think he could get away with it.”

“Ma’am, he was gifted with various poisons and chemicals. If he used the ruse that Agent Hotchner spoke of, he could slip into her room and give her a dose of God knows what and be out the door by the time that   
anyone knew the difference.”

Mrs. King merely nodded her head in disbelief, “What have ya gotten yourself into now girl?”

“I suggest we go back and wait with the others for the time being.”

“Yes, I want to be there if she should wake up.”

The party of three walked back to the waiting room and took their seats. Mrs. King couldn’t sit still for long though; she was restless with pent up energy of someone who had been wrongfully imprisoned for a long 

period of time. She walked up to the door of her daughter’s hospital room and just watched through the door quietly. The longer she watched the more excited she became. She saw her daughter, Alecta, actually   
awake. Alecta was quietly stroking the blonde wavy hair of the man lying on the bed resting his head against her chest. Kevin was still asleep with his arms wrapped carefully around Alecta’s waist. 

Mrs. King turned and ran immediately back to the waiting room, “She’s awake!....She’s awake!”

Mrs. King could barely contain her excitement. Agent Hotchner went for the nurse’s station to alert someone. The attending physician happened to be at the station and dropped the clipboard he had been making   
notes on and ran with the nurses to check on the patient. As the doctor and his nurses came into the room, Alecta turned toward the door and put her right index finger to her lips and signaled for them to be   
quiet.

“He’s sleeping. Please don’t wake him.”

“I’m Dr. Pillai. I was responsible for stitching you back together. I am sorry to inform you, we will have to wake him up; we must check your stitches and get a general idea of how you are doing.”

“But…”

“My darling girl, let them do their work,’ came Kevin’s sleepy muffled voice as he raised his head to look into Alecta’s big brown eyes. At Kevin’s request Alecta only nodded her head quietly.

“I am afraid that I must ask everyone to exit the room, with the exception of myself and my nurses.”

By the end of the good doctor’s statement, Alecta went to protest as hard as she could.

“Ah, Dr. Pillai, as Agent Davis’ immediate superior ranking agent, I will have to ask that I be allowed to stay. I fear after the day’s events she may be a little hesitant to cooperate otherwise.”

“I wouldn’t have said it quite that way, but….Please?”

“Very well then, you may stay, but just sit out of the way please.”

“Yes of course.”

Hotch took a seat in the chair that was a couple feet away, nodding at Alecta that he would sit in the room for the duration of the check-up; she seemed to calm a bit knowing this. 

It only took the doctor a few minutes to check and make sure that the stitches on the stab wounds hadn’t been terribly disturbed and that her breathing was fairly normal…well normal considering all of her   
injuries. Dr. Pillai used a small light to check into her eyes for any signs of trauma from the concussion that she had with that head wound. Everything seemed to be progressing about as well as could be expected,   
which is what Dr. Pillai told Alecta, along with Hotch. Once the doctor left, Alecta turned on Hotch immediately.

“What do you know? There’s something you’re not telling me.”

“There’s quite a bit that you should know. A lot has happened during your nap.”

“Now you form a sense of humor.”

Hotch looked up at the door and waved at Rossi to come on in, at which time Rossi also brought with him Mrs. King. Hotch watched Alecta carefully, he knew this would be a huge shock to her to say the very least.

“Who are you?”

“I’m your mother.”

“N-N-N….No…Y-Y…” Alecta was getting frustrated. Her damned nervous stammer was returning. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to get a handle on her thoughts and feelings at that moment. Anyone could see   
the tears streaming down her cheeks.

“No. my momma’s dead. I saw it happen.” 

“On the way to the hospital, the paramedics were able to revive me. Your daddy…”

Looking over at Hotch, ‘They’re doing it again….they’re trying to make me go crazy again, like before.” Alecta started pulling out her IV tubing, tossing the covers back. She had to get out of there. The traffickers   
had planted someone that could pretend to be her mother, she was sure of it. And the people she was counting on most were falling for it. She wasn’t going to get caught up this time. In excruciating pain, she slid   
down out of her hospital bed and tried to make it to the door, but it was slow going, and Rossi was able to easily stop her.

Taking her by the arms, carefully, ‘This isn’t a joke. They had nothing to do with this. I swear that much to you.”

“I know what I saw. I saw my daddy beat my mother to death, I had her blood on me.”

“Momma,’ Alecta’s daughter, Rachel came through the door then, accompanied by Kevin, ‘it’s really her. It’s grandma, your mother.”

Alecta didn’t say anything, she just kept shaking her head ‘NO’, she wasn’t ready to accept the fact that her mother was actually alive. Mrs. King thought for a moment, and pulled out the rumpled old photograph   
from her purse.

“I brought this. It’s the only thing I had of you.” Alecta reached out to take the picture from this woman claiming to be her mother.

The others in the room watched her look over the photograph; she ran the fingers of one hand over the figures in it. Rossi still had her by the arms and simply lifted her by them and sat her back in the bed. Alecta   
never broke her concentration on the picture in her hands. It was a long while before she spoke again.

“You know that I screamed for you the whole time they had me in that hospital. They wanted to make sure if the blood on my clothes was mine or not. I kept screaming to have you with me, and you never came.   
There were so many times I begged and pleaded with God that I would be a good girl, that I would try so hard, if he would just make you come back. And I did try. I tried so very hard. You’ll never know….I never   
made a sound. I didn’t cry anymore. I never talked to much of anyone….though it’s not like many ever troubled themselves with me anyway. I did like I promised….but he must not have heard me, because you never   
came.” She broke down into sobs when she thought about it all.

“This was the last time I can honestly remember feeling at all like anyone ever loved me. It was the last time that a hug was a good thing. It was the last time that anyone gave me much of anything that didn’t hurt.   
To this day I can remember the smell of the shampoo that you used when you showered at their house….it smelled like roses…the old fashioned smell of roses. I never forgot it. When I had Rachel, I wanted to give   
her your name. She had blonde hair like you and like her daddy; the same blue eyes…and I figured that if I couldn’t have you back for real, I could just pretend for a moment. But it was never the same, and that   
wasn’t her fault. It was mine, I was trying too hard. Why didn’t you come for me?”

Mrs. King watched Alecta as she spoke, never looking up from the photograph that she was clutching.

“Your father made it so that I couldn’t. When I woke up in the hospital, he was sitting there, and he told me that he would make sure that I never saw you again. He told the doctors, as it neared my release date, that   
he had been worried about my mental health for a while. He told them that I had beaten you on several occasions for the past couple of years and he worried about what I might do in my delicate constitution…..he   
made a great show of it all. You know how he is. He’s very persuasive when he wants to be. And when he can’t persuade a person, he intimidates them.”

“So. It’s really you then, I’m not gonna wake up from this and be all alone again?”

“Not if I can help it.”

Alecta got back down, Hotch and Rossi were about to stop her, but she just walked over to Mrs. King and looked at her before wrapping her arms around the woman. Mrs. King then wrapped her arms around   
Alecta and hugged her as tight as she could and yet still remain as gentle as possible, considering Alecta’s injuries.

Alecta turned her head as she rested it against the woman’s shoulder, by doing this she faced Kevin, ‘It is her, it is.”

Kevin was glad that issue was finally resolved. He knew once she hugged her mother she would know.

“Davis, there are some things I need to discuss with you, if you’re ready that is.”

“Of course boss man. Shoot.”

Hotch looked at the others in the room, giving them a look that said that he needed to speak privately to her. 

“Come on pops; let’s go see what the cafeteria has to offer. Leave them to it, yeah.”

Kevin only nodded and followed his daughter out the door. Hotch then turned the look onto Mrs. King.

“Now if you think you’re driving me out, you must be crazy.”

Rossi grinned and couldn’t help a little chuckle; like mother, like daughter he thought to himself.

“Very well, take a seat.”

Alecta leaned in to whisper to Hotch, he looked into her gleaming brown eyes, “I told you I’d come back.”

“Please sit, this is important.”

“Always so serious.” She turned to Rossi, ‘Has he always been such a fuddy-duddy?”

“No, not always.” That earned Rossi a glare from Hotch, and a smile from Mrs. King, at which he smiled and bowed his head slightly.

Alecta hopped back up in the hospital bed with some difficulties. She was so short that the height of the bed would’ve been a problem for her on her best days, and in her injured state it wasn’t any better. 

“I hate tall people,’ she muttered as she climbed up on the bed.

“We’ve noticed,’ Rossi replied almost sardonically.

After she got settled, ‘What’s the business, boss man?”

“I’m just going to say it. There’s no easy way to break it down, but to say it. Mengele….Mengele escaped capture.”

Hotch, Rossi, and Mrs. King watched as the color drained from her face and all humor left her eyes. Hotch kept talking about how he was posting extra security on her door….some other stuff…none of which she   
heard. After the initial newsflash she tuned out. Mentally she was back in the warehouse, during her undercover days, she could hear the screams of the girls that were being thrown in the pits to be burned to   
death during the raid; all she could smell was the stench of their burning bodies. With no warning whatsoever, Alecta leaned over and vomited all over the floor; Mrs. King was quick to grab her hair.

As soon as she was done, ‘Sorry ‘bout that, I….” 

“You don’t have to apologize about anything. As I’ve said, we’re posting extra security around the floor. He will have to be damned good to get through them.”

Rolling over onto her left side to face away from her friends and her mother, Alecta mumbled, “Trust me. He is.” With that she pulled the blankets up over herself and stared out the window not making another   
sound. Mrs. King went to the nurse’s station and asked for them to bring two spare blankets; an extra one for Alecta (who was forever cold natured) and one for herself, she was going to stay with her daughter.

“Mrs. King, I would like to advise you against that decision. If this person is out there and tries to come back after her, I couldn’t vouch for your safety.”

“I don’t want you to vouch for my safety. Just vouch for hers and we call it even Stevens.”

With that Mrs. King walked back into Alecta’s room with the spare blankets draped over her arm; she put one of them in a chair, and spread the other out over her daughter. Then, after getting that seen to Mrs.   
King pulled the reclining chair over to where she could sit beside her daughter’s hospital bed, face to face. As far as Mrs. Rachel King was concerned the discussion was over. 

Hotch just shook his head in exasperation.   
“Like mother, like daughter.” Rossi commented smugly.

“That’s the truth. Rossi, did I notice you becoming intrigued with Mrs. King?”

“Listen Skippy…”

“All I’ll say about it is, watch your head old man.”

 

“Don’t I know it.”

Hotch and Rossi made their way back out to the waiting room with the others.  
“Agent Hotchner, what seems to be the problem?”

Hotch looked at Hetti Lange, outside of Alecta Davis, this tiny older woman was the only thing that truly scared him.

“Ma’am, it seems as though Mengele or Kazimir Bogolyukov has eluded capture. Kazimir wasn’t in the head count we did of the traffickers that we captured alive, and his body wasn’t among those that were killed.”

 

“Damn!” Callen and Sam exclaimed together. Before they could turn to run and guard her they were stopped by director Vance.

“Wait.”

“WAIT!” Sam was on the verge.

“Excuse me director Vance, but you weren’t here years ago when she was undercover. You didn’t see what was left of her when those men were done with her.” Callen cut Sam off, and grabbed his arm, before he said something regretful.

“I’m going to her. You can stand around here and wait as long as you damn well please.” With that Sam took off at a brisk walk down the hall to Alecta’s room.

“Excuse me, but outside of the known issues at hand, what’s eating him?”

“Please, sit.” Hetti instructed everybody. Once they were all seated as she requested, she began to fill in the blanks. 

“What you don’t know much about is that, if it wasn’t for Davis’ husband, Yuri, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“What that means, Agent Prentiss, is that Yuri saved her life.”

“She told me once that he worked with the task force, to help get intel.”

“That he did, Agent Rossi. While she was under-cover as a young Russian girl, he was under-cover as a buyer, interested in purchasing young women and girls. Through some contacts on the grapevine, he was able to get the word out that he was looking to do business with these people. They contacted him, a price was agreed on, and he was told where to meet them. It was always somewhere different at first, until they   
were sure he could be trusted. After that, he was allowed to meet them at their home base. He would come in, peruse the goods; there were rare occasions that he was able to arrange private time with her, saying   
that for his time and effort he should be allowed at least a sampling of what they had to offer…and he wanted the best they had. During those few private moments he was allowed with her, she would pass information along to him about who ran the outfit, approximately how many girls were under their control; once she was even able to pass on a rough sketch of the place that she was able to make on some rags…”

“What were the sketches made out of?”

“Blood Dr. Reid, blood. It was all she had at her disposal. Some of it belonged to her. Some of it she was able to get from some of the other girls when they were injured. She wasn’t above collecting the blood of the girls that had been murdered. This sounds like gruesome work, and it was. But the effort had a two-fold approach. Not only was she able to provide a basic idea of the layout of the warehouse they were being kept in, but she was by default supplying DNA evidence of the girls being held there, in case any of the families had bothered to file missing persons reports, they would have some chance of matching to one of the blood samples in the sketches. Since they were drawn on rags, mostly from tattered garments, the traffickers thought nothing of it. They were easily smuggled out. Yuri worked tirelessly to purchase her freedom. If they could be caught brokering a deal for her, we (as the participants of the task force) would have settled for capturing whomever we could get our hands on. Contact would be made, a price would be agreed upon, like all the other times. Yuri would show up with the money at the appointed time; those bastards weren’t about to let her go. When he would come to carry out the deal, they would tell him the offer was off the table. They would then try to offer him five or six other girls to him for the same price that they had been about to sell Alecta for. Or they would jack the price they wanted for her up even higher than originally agreed upon.”

“Why were they playing these games?”

“There was a rat in the system somewhere.’ Deeks spoke up, answering JJ’s question. 

“Quite so.’ Hetti remembered shaking her head in disgust.

Callen spoke up, he was still worried about what Sam was capable of if he was pushed, “Somebody had leaked information to the traffickers that there was a cop on the inside. Whoever the rat was didn’t know who the cop was. But Rasputin and Mengele got paranoid. They started closing ranks tighter and tighter. At one time, the snitch told the traffickers that there was a raid in the near future, even told them roughly when it   
would be. They pulled up stakes. It took everybody months to locate them again.” Callen had to stop, he was becoming about as angry as Sam by now.

“By the time they were tracked down, they had off loaded most of their girls. And she was in worse condition than before,’ Kensi took up where Callen had left off.

“Off loaded?”

“Yes. Off loaded. When the old place was located and searched there were pits that were dug into the back of the property. When the cops uncovered the pits….’ Garcia couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“What did they see Baby Girl?” Garcia only shook her head negatively, there was nothing Morgan or anyone else could do to make her tell what she knew.

“When the cops opened up the pits, they found bodies, lots of bodies. The traffickers, in a hurry to elude capture, had dug these pits over the days leading up to the botched raid. The pits were doused with   
accelerant; a lot of the girls were tossed into the pits alive, although there were a few dead already, but not many. The girls that were tossed in were typically ones that had fallen ill or hadn’t been the ones to fetch   
top dollar. Once they were thrown in the pits, the men would then pour more….kerosene or whatever it was they were using…on top and light the whole thing up. Alecta was trapped in whatever room they had her   
locked in and all she could hear was the screams of the girls that were burning alive in those pits, and all she could smell was the smell of burning flesh.” Gibbs stated rather matter of factly. Having been a Marine and having seen some of the things he had to witness in his life and career, there wasn’t much that got to him anymore. “She has never really gotten over that. She can still smell the flesh burning. And when she   
tries to sleep, a lot of what she hears in her sleep is the screaming of those poor girls.”

“What happened that last day?”

Hetti spoke again, ‘Another raid was planned. For the most part the only people that knew exactly when it would take place are in this room. Your FBI director knew, myself, Director Shepard, Sam, Callen, Miss Blye….there were agents from the bureau, very few of them, who knew. We tried to minimize the amount of people who did know to try to work around whoever the rat was. He or she was never discovered. We couldn’t take any chances. Yuri was in the loop, he demanded as much. We didn’t have a bullet proof vest big enough to fit him, but he went in with the rest of us, not caring.”

“By the time they had tracked the operation back down Davis was about 85lbs soak and wet. She had cuts and bruises everywhere. She had been through hell for those missing months.” Ducky interjected, ‘She was   
a mess.”

Hetti took back over, ‘When it became apparent to everyone that a raid was taking place, she gathered what strength she had left and began helping get the young girls out to safety. She herself was barely able to   
walk due to her injuries, but she was grabbing girls and leading them to safety exits. By the time that Yuri found her she was quite literally on death’s door.”

“Miss Lange,’ Hotch prodded.

Another voice came from practically nowhere, ‘As pa’pa came around the corner, he saw that man….Vahid....Rasputin….he had ma’ma by the hair on her knees, a knife pressed to her throat. He had gone after one   
of the girls, intending to kill her as quickly as possible. But ma’ma had come in and stopped him. He took a few moments to beat my mother; he broke her ankle so she could not run on her own accord. Then he   
turned his attentions back the girl that he had started out with. He raped her, and then when he was done he turned back to mother. He raped her one last time for good measure, she fought him as much as she   
could, but she was in much pain. He had never intended to let her go alive. Daddy took his shot, he only managed to get Rasputin in the arm, but it was enough to make him drop the knife and let mother go.   
Rasputin ran away holding his arm, daddy gave chase. You can still see the scar around her neck from where the knife had begun to dig into her skin.”

Everyone listened with rapt attention as Alecta’s daughter, Sasha filled in the blanks.

“Sam is the one that carried her out, he was right behind Yuri in the raid. He said he would never forget that day.” Callen stated, explaining a lot about Sam’s attitude.

“Who was the girl she had saved there at the end?” Rossi had a feeling he knew but he needed to ask for clarity.

“Why, Theo, of course.” Ivory stated as if it was a normal daily conversation. “She damn near died to save that witch, and this is the thanks she receives.” It was easy to see that Ivory still harbored much hatred toward   
her former ‘sister’ and likely always would.

“Tell me Immogene, what is the proper disposal of the body of a person convicted of treason against the state?” Zaheer was forming ideas, anyone could see that.

“Usually there would be a burial at sea. You know, wrap the body in a shroud and toss them over with a quick prayer of safe passage. What makes you ask?” The sarcasm was thick in Immogene’s voice when she   
gave her reply.

“You know that Ma will never allow Theo to be subjected to that. Whatever wrong Theo has done, Ma will forgive her. She will want her to be taken home to her native city and buried with her real family, a proper   
burial. Ma won’t allow Theo to be treated as a criminal. If we left her to it with a sea burial, that would break mom’s heart completely.”

“This is very true, Cossette. We can’t do anything about it until we check with her.”

Meanwhile, Sam had gone to Alecta’s room and sat with her and her mother for a time, leaving after about 30 minutes to get himself and Mrs. King something to drink. As he walked back down the hall to the room,   
passing the waiting room, there was a loud noise coming from Alecta’s room. Sam looked up, as did the others from the waiting room; he dropped the drinks that he had been carrying and began to run, followed   
closely behind by the others. Upon arriving at the room, everyone noticed that the door was shut….they couldn’t make it open! 

“Oh no!’ Sasha and Eva exclaimed at the same time.

Through the window of the door it could be seen that there was a man in the room that had no business being there. As Hotch suspected, he had stolen a lab coat and someone else’s credentials to blend in. He   
had come in while Sam was gone; Mrs. King had dozed off in the chair for just a few moments. When she woke up this person was kneeling on the bed, his knees straddling Alecta’s hips, with his large hands   
around her throat strangling her for all he was worth. Mrs. King had jumped out of her chair and launched herself at the man, he was able to shrug Mrs. King off of him rather easily, slinging her to the floor. As she   
hit the floor, Mrs. King had the presence of mind to turn over the bedside table to make the noise that everyone heard. The man’s action was only seconds, but it allowed Alecta those fine moments to draw in a   
quick breath. 

As Sam kicked the door open, the man that had just been trying to kill Alecta looked up from his work and that gave her the quick second that she needed. Alecta’s mother slipped a broken piece of glass into her   
hand, and with that, Alecta was able to quickly stab the man at least five times, each one was a kill shot.

The man fell back onto the bed, weighing down Alecta’s legs; he was bleeding to death profusely, it wouldn’t be long now. 

“How’s it feel asshole?” was all Alecta was able to get out. With his dying breath the man made one more reach for her, wrapping his baseball mitt sized hand around her throat one last time, squeezing the air from   
it. She was gasping for air as he brought her close to him and whispered some Cyrillic mumbo-jumbo into her ear.

With a burst of effort that nobody was aware she had, Mrs. King leapt up from the floor and stabbed him one last time with the piece of glass through his chest; finally he was dead. Mrs. King sat up and pulled her daughter away, laying her back against her pillow. “Who the hell was that!?” 

“That, Mrs. King, was Mengele….or as he was known to the outside world Kazimir Bogolyukov. He was the missing trafficker that we were looking for.”

“Is it over? Is it finally over?” Lakshmi’s voice was small and uncertain.

All Alecta could do was nod her head as she tried to take deep breaths.

The hospital was all a buzz as the nurses and the ‘real’ doctors got the body of Mengele out of the room and down to the morgue. They removed Alecta from her room, arranging to get her a new one. And security   
was still posted outside of her door, regardless of who was dead and who wasn’t. Hotch and the others weren’t in any mood to take any further chances with her safety. 

Ducky was sitting with Alecta trying to keep her calmed down. After they had removed the body from her room and sat her in a new room, void anything that had belonged to her, she began to really loose it. She came unglued then, crying her eyes out. There was at least 12 years of shit pent up inside that had to come out finally. And from the sound of it, this was going to rip her in half.


	23. Who Are You? Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alecta finds out her first husband, Yuri and their children are actually alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I modeled Mrs. King a little bit after my own mother. Mom is about 5'8, as a younger woman had really pretty blonde hair, and at least until she entered her 30s she was always around 120-135 lbs. 
> 
> The last name King was taken from some of my ancestors from the late 1800s-early 1900s. 
> 
> The young guy Kevin that is friends with Alecta, he is based on 2 of my childhood best friends. Looks wise (as far as his blonde hair, blue eyes, and impish ways) he is a lot like my childhood sweetheart who was actually named Kevin. But as far as his overall personality, he reminds me a lot of my best friend in the entire world, a boy with the initials R.W. He was the one I always used to tell my secrets to. 
> 
> Dr. Pillai is a nod to the woman that was my pediatrician when I was a child, I am almost positive I spelled it wrong...I think it should have only one L....The Dr. Pillai that I knew as a child was a wonderful doctor, even mom says so. I used to love to hear her speak with her Indian accent. I was fascinated by her. 
> 
> When Mrs. King is describing some of the issues of what would happen when Alecta got sick as a child, some of that is actually based on myself. When I was a child, I was a little prone to getting fevers I think. I know I had Scarlet Fever once. Can't remember if that was the time that my fever shot to 103 (F)...But I do know once that the doctor at the hospital warned mom that if it got close to 105 (F) or higher there could be brain damage or death....I remember her telling me that on more than one occasion.

“My dear girl, you’re bleeding. I have to get your doctor.”

Grabbing Ducky’s arm, ‘Don’t leave me please.”

Nodding, Ducky pressed the nurse on call button to get someone to come to the new room so they could check Alecta over.

A nurse did come and looked her over, ‘Oh my heavens. You’ve ruptured some of your stitches. I’ll get the doctor immediately.” With that the nurse was gone to retrieve the doctor.

“You’ll stay, right? No matter what he says, don’t leave me. Please.”

Ducky promised he would stay; this seemed to calm her a bit, which, in her current state, was the best thing really. He knew that he had to calm her down somehow. If she got too worked up she would bleed faster   
and her breathing would become troublesome to say the least.

The doctor had come in and checked her over and agreed with the nurse that those stitches needed to be attended to. At first Dr. Pillai wasn’t altogether sure about allowing Ducky into the room when the work was being done. That was until Dr. Mallard explained to him that his very safety may depend on him at least being in the room. 

“My good man, the body you just scraped up out of her last room was a former doctor from Russia. He lost his license to practice due to his penchant for doing unnecessary operations on his patients. Then he moved on to torturing innocent young girls, most of which weren’t over 15 years of age. Do you want me to tell you what he did to Agent Davis? It was quite painful. She was ‘treated’ by him for two years. She remembers everything he ever did to her, and she can re-enact it with unheard of precision. Do you want that? If not I think that I should stay.”

“As you were then, Dr. Mallard.”

“Very well. Now Davis, do behave.”

Alecta nodded, she allowed them to put her under a mild sedative to knock her out so that they could focus on re-working her stitches.

“Where is she?” Kevin was getting upset, he couldn’t find Alecta anywhere. “She was supposed to be moved to this room. Where is she?” 

Everyone could tell his was getting worked up. He was getting more insistent and pushy. 

“Kevin, calm down boy. You’ll do no good getting worked up right now. Don’t cause a scene here in the hospital.”

“Mrs. Rachel, I have to know where she is. Every time she gets out of my sight something bad happens to her.”

A nurse at the station nearby happened to hear the goings on and she stepped over to the group, ‘I’m Nurse Chatham. Dr. Pillai has her in surgery right now, under Dr. Mallard’s supervision, to repair the damage   
to her stitches. It seems as though in her earlier struggle that some of them have popped open. It won’t take him long; at least I don’t expect it to. If you would just have a seat, I will have him come and speak to you as soon as possible, if you would like.”

Kevin only nodded, slumping into a chair, while Mrs. King thanked the nurse.

Anyone could tell that Kevin was worried absolutely to death about Alecta; even after the bit of rest he got sleeping in the hospital bed with her, Kevin was just about as pale as a sheet. The strain of everything was getting to him. They could at least sympathize, after this, it was clear that they would all want some sort of break. They had come off of working a case out in California where they had the displeasure of meeting her estranged husband and solved a string of murders. And the ‘un-sub’ in that case had been out to get her one way or other; and now this.

About an hour later, the minor surgery was finished. The doctor came out and updated them about Alecta’s condition and, as an aside Dr. Pillai told Kevin he needed to eat something or he would collapse.

“How about you just take care of your patient and don’t worry so much about me?”

“Kevin, do not make me call your momma. I don’t have time to explain everything to her right now….but I will give your parents’ number to Agent Hotchner and have him place the call and tell them that you are   
being unruly. Test me, please child, I’m begging you.”

Rossi chuckled a little bit, earning him a bit of a glare from Mrs. King which softened into a mischievous smile with a gleam in her eye…

“What’s so funny Agent Rossi?”

“Oh, nothing…I was just thinking….Like mother like daughter.” With that he wondered off to find coffee, taking Garcia and Morgan with him.

Once he came back with enough coffee for all those that had said they wanted any, he settled back down and Hotch began discussing what to do next.

“We can’t leave her here alone!”

“Kevin, shut it. Listen to what they have to say. Besides, she won’t be alone will she? I’m staying with her tonight and as long as it takes until we can bring my baby home.”

“I’m staying as well.”

“Kevin, go get some sleep, go home.”

“I don’t want to leave her. For nearly 25 years I have shut her out, that’s a lot of time to make up for.”

“Son, you’re not going to make up for the entire time in one night. You should go sleep in a real bed and get some actual rest.”

“Agent Rossi…”

“Kevin.” Mrs. King’s tone was a warning to mind himself.

“F-i-n-e. Where should I stay then? I can’t stay at the compound. In case you forgot, it was raided; how safe do you think it’ll be? There’s nowhere else for me or her for that matter, to go….”

“You can stay at my house; God knows it’s big enough. I have plenty of room to spare. “

“For real? You’d do that?”

Rossi nodded.

“T-thank you. She will have been worried about where the kids are going to stay until she can find a new location for the compound.”

“All of you are welcome. You, Alecta, the girls…”

“Agent Rossi, thank you for helping ma’ma out.”

“All. Of. You. The six of you that are left, bring your children with you. You’ll have a place to stay while you try to figure everything out.”

“Rossi…”

Rossi followed Hotch to a corner of the room; he knew what Hotch was going to tell him….

“Are you sure that you’re not getting in over your head?”

“Aaron….’ Dave started on a loud note, but lowered his voice to stay with the conversation at hand, ‘For at least 12 years this girl has dedicated everything she has ever had to those girls and others like them. For   
nearly 35 years she has thought that her mother was dead, having been murdered by her father. Outside of a small circle of people in her entire life, nobody has ever given this girl a damned thing…not one damned thing. And more to the point, she has never asked for anything for herself either. She has always gone out and gotten it the best way she could. She worked herself to death for her daughter, Rachel. She has lived nearly half her life thinking that work she did FOR OUR BUREAU got her family killed. And after my initial visit with her, I never made any attempt to find out more about her or how she was doing. A few months back she sends me a package of information about her impending divorce and about her little girls. She wanted me to take them if something happened to her. What am I going to do with 4 year old twins? Especially those 4 year old twins. Have you met them? She had only met me one time, but she was telling me that if that….if….if Fletcher had succeeded in killing her that she wanted me to take care of those   
children. Of course I know that she sent the same information to Kevin and his parents of course…I’d expect nothing less. But she wasn’t sure who was going to take care of the girls. In over my head? I don’t care.   
So be it.”

“Alright, we’re with you on this, I just had to ask.”

“I dare Strauss to say something about it.”

“Well, if you’re doing it right, she won’t.”

“I split up with her a few weeks back, just haven’t said anything about it. I wanted to give her time to move on however she wished.”

“No wonder. You’ve been keeping your eyes on Mrs. King like a hawk.”

“If you were a few years older, you would too. What can I say, she seems….interesting.”

“Just don’t forget about Davis. She is a dangerous person to piss off.”

“Yeah, did you see what she did to Mengele? And her mother is no slouch.”

Mrs. King made her way up to Hotch and Rossi, with a questioning gaze on them. 

“Mrs. King, what’s wrong?”

“I only have one question really. What will happen when Lex is told that her husband and three children are alive? She has seen me come back from the dead. How will she handle finding this out on top of   
everything?”

“We’re not sure; we’ve been putting it off for that very reason. We know that we should tell her and get on with things; putting it off and waiting like this will only make things worse. But….it’s like you said, she has already come to terms with you actually being alive.”

“Well, whatever you’re planning on doing, we need to do it quickly enough. She’s waking up again.” Kevin had interrupted. 

Once everyone was back together Dr. Pillai came out and told them that Hotch and Rossi and Kevin, as well as Mrs. King, should come to the room with him.

Gathering in the hospital room, as Alecta was shaking the cobwebs loose, Dr. Pillai began explaining everything to them.

They heard Alecta coughing a bit.

“Now I called you in here to let you know that we have repaired the torn stitches. Now, I will say that due to her condition, she is going to be more susceptible to germs, etc. The next 12-24 hours we will monitor   
her a little more and see what kind of condition her lungs are going to be in. And we’re still keeping an eye out on that head wound…but so far we haven’t noticed any problems that may have occurred due to   
that…”

“See baby…hard headed; just like I told you.”

“Suck it sweet heart.”

With that she started coughing.

“Can a heifer get a drink? I’m a bit parched.”

As Mrs. King was getting her some water to drink, Dr. Pillai was taken to the side by Hotch and Rossi.

“What seems to be the issue Agents?”

“We were wondering how we’re going to break it to her about her family that came in with her, that they are alive?”

“Ah yes, I see. That is a good question. Let me handle it.”

“As you see fit.”

Turning around, Dr. Pillai turned to Alecta and posed his question to her.

“Agent Davis, there are some patients in the room down the hall….they were involved in the raid that your teams participated in. They came in around the same time as you did. If we were to allow you to go in a   
wheel chair, would you be willing to go down there and see if you can identify them at all?”

“Sure, why not. Let’s do this.”

“Are you sure that you don’t want to rest a little more before you go on your excursion?”

“Nah. If I put it off, I won’t be able to get any sleep, thinking about if they are alright…that sort of thing. Let’s roll doc.”

“Very well, just let me arrange a chair for you. I’ll be right back.”

With that the doctor stepped out of the room and made his way to the nurse’s station to acquire the previously mentioned wheel chair.  
Alecta sat up, though she was rather sore from the two operations she has had….after the life she has had, all the injuries, this is nothing to her really. As she sits up she begins to cough a little harder, Mrs. King seems worried.

“Momma….momma…I’m fine. Stop coddling me.”

“You need some of that in the worst sort of way.”

Alecta merely looked around grumbling; she was still coughing hard though, and it was sounding like there might be some trouble brewing for her later.

Soon the doctor returned with an orderly that was pushing the wheel chair that was going to take Alecta on her little field trip. After dropping the chair off the orderly left and went about his daily business. Kevin   
helped her get into the wheel chair, making sure she was settled in well enough and helping to tuck one of the spare blankets in around her legs to keep her warm. 

“Aren’t you going to come with me boy?”

“Not this time. I think you should have a few moments with them on your own. If you need me though, I will be just out in the hall.”

Alecta nodded and began to roll the wheel chair forward, but started another coughing fit again.

“I gotcha, sit back and enjoy the ride.”

“Can I get some peanuts?”

“Hush.”

“But Dave….”

Rossi just shook his head as he pushed her out of the room. She continued to cough more because she had started laughing at Dave’s exasperation. 

Mrs. King looked at the doctor inquisitively.

“That cough is part of what I wanted to warn you about. She may be coming down with bronchitis, we think. It’s part of the reason we’d like to keep her under a little more observation; to make sure of what’s going   
on. In her body’s weakened state, she will be more susceptible to this sort of thing.”

“I see. Thank you Dr. Pillai.”

Rossi continued to push Alecta and think about her condition. It worried him. He didn’t care for this at all. 

It only took them a few minutes to make the trip, the doctor opened the door and went in first, holding the door open for Agent Rossi and the wheelchair bound Agent Davis. 

The three teenaged children in the room were chatting amongst themselves in the corner of the room, the girls were sitting on the sofa, and the boy was sitting in a chair on his own. They were discussing something colorfully in Russian. It sounded rather like hoof beats on cobblestone at the speed with which they were speaking. It was music to Alecta’s ears. She could only pick up portions of what they were saying; she wasn’t focused on the words so much as the sounds that were familiar to her. Once inside the room, she saw three teenaged children. Each of them had blonde hair that was very near to platinum. The girls had green eyes, they reminded her so much of her daughters with Yuri, those sparkling green eyes. And the boy had the sky blue eyes. They had rosy cheeks, like they had been out in the cold wind. As soon as they saw her roll into the room they stopped speaking and stared.

“You don’t have to stop talking on my account, I was just listening to the sounds, I swear. You remind me of my children. They died a long time ago. You look just like them. All of you do….” She had another   
coughing fit. “The doctor told me that you came in about the same time I did, that you had been trapped at that ware house. Is that true?”  
The boy answered carefully, neither of the girls thought they had the strength to speak without giving it all away, “Yes, it is.” 

“The doctor said I should come in to see you, though I don’t know what help I’ll be at this point…”

“Our father is here in the bed. He was with us. He’s been awake for a while, but hasn’t had much to say, would you speak with him. Perhaps, he would talk to you.”

“If you think it’ll….’ she stopped mid-sentence, seeing the man in the bed. She stood from her wheel chair, carefully, staggering a bit from being unsteady on her feet. There were the injuries, and the escalating   
bronchial issues that she had, and shock. There was a lot of shock. She stepped closer to the bed; she was starting to shake from the shock that was running through her system. 

Speaking carefully in shaky Russian, Alecta began to speak to the man; she asked him why he wouldn’t speak to anyone when he was questioned. He answered back in a deep baritone that was at odds with his pale   
features that he didn’t want to answer any questions; he wanted to see his wife; if they would bring his wife, and he would tell them anything they wanted to know. He said it had been ever so long since he had seen   
her. He needed to know if she was alright.

Alecta couldn’t stand it anymore; she reached out a hand and stroked his pale blonde hair back from his forehead, stroking her little thumb against his eyebrow. She spoke carefully to him, again in Russian; she   
recited a bit of a folk poem that his mother had once taught her. When it dawned on the man just what she was saying, he began to sit up and he started to speak rapidly, more than he had since they arrived at the   
hospital.

Suddenly, he blurted out, ‘Kroshka moya ya po tebe skuchayu.”

“Zolotoy…” 

Quickly he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her in a massive bear hug. She let out a gasp, the pressure on her ribs was excruciating, but she didn’t dare tell him to stop; she had missed his bear hugs for   
far too long. Finally, releasing her from the vice like grip he’d held her in, he ran his hand over her face slowly, trying to reassure himself that it was her. Not understanding she stopped his hand by grabbing his   
wrist with both of her hands and pulling it away and asking what he was doing. He tilted his eyes to the side as if trying to locate his children.

“Ma’ma’, one of the girls, Sasha, spoke up, ‘he’s blind ma’ma. They blinded him a few years ago and his sight never did come back.”

With the sound of the young girl speaking to her, in English no less, Alecta whirled around, getting a bit light headed, to look at the girl; at the sight of her becoming woozy Hotch grabbed one arm, Rossi grabbed   
the other, to try and steady her.

She looked at her children then, like she was trying to reconcile who they were. The last time she had seen them, Sasha and Eva were about the same age as Sofie and Emma, and little Oleg was only about two…almost three. The three kids could see her trying to get it together. She was struggling with the idea that they were all alive.

Looking at Hotch and Dave, ‘and this is for real? No tricks? They’re not trying to….”

“Very real,’ was Rossi’s only reply.

“We had the children’s DNA tested, just to be sure. It all matches. You are their mother, and this is their father,’ was Dr. Pillai’s educated tone. “We thought, under the circumstances, that it would be best to not leave   
any room for error.”

“But….” She still couldn’t wrap her brain around everything, and Yuri had never let go of her hand, if anything he grasped it that much tighter.

Oleg stepped forward to hug her carefully, when he had her head resting on his shoulder he whispered something in her ear causing her to bring her right hand to her mouth as silent tears poured from her eyes,   
and she nodded her head. Then the boy leaned forward and placed a kiss on her cheek and stepped back to allow her room.

Once she had gathered the strength to speak, ‘You never were a *little* boy. Everybody thought I was pregnant with a Volvo.” 

The twin girls started giggling hysterically, they had heard this story from their father, word for word.

“You laugh. When I was pregnant with the two of you I looked like I had been beached. My nickname around the department was Shamoo. Of course when I was pregnant with your brother everybody called me   
Shrek, because I had a rather nasty temperament. I wasn’t a nice person I’m afraid.”

She started coughing again. When this fit was almost over Hotch asked her what she meant by that.

“Nothing much, just that one day, I punched one of my fellow detectives in the jaw, breaking it. I guess I woke up on the wrong side of the bed that day.”

Yuri spoke up in Russian, just briefly to interject something into the conversation.

Chuckling, ‘This is true.”

“What did he say?”

“Papa said that the idiot should not have crossed momma by saying something out of line. And, momma, he asked if they ever found that guys tooth?”

“Nope.” 

With that she hugged all three of the children, amazed at how they had grown. Sasha and Eva were both taller than her; they were at least as tall as their grandmother, Mrs. King. And Oleg, that was no surprise. He   
was going to be enormous like his father. At 14 years old Oleg was already 6’6, and he was still growing. This did not shock Alecta. Yuri was 7’2, this just meant that Oleg was going to be nearly as large as his   
father; and likely strong and somewhat muscular like him, too.

Alecta went back bedside to see Yuri some more. Off to the side, Dr. Pillai noted to Hotch and Rossi that Yuri seemed a lot calmer than he had been earlier, if the news from the physician overseeing his care was   
anything to go by.

“Earlier, they said he was so agitated. They were almost afraid to go near to him to administer care. If the children hadn’t been there to calm him some, I don’t know if the doctor caring for him would have. He was   
so worked up. All he wanted was to see her.”

Soon enough, Alecta began to cough harshly again; this time the coughing wasn’t letting up. She was practically doubled over with the effort, and even when the coughing did stop, it was only momentarily and   
you could hear that her breathing was labored.

“Alecta, I think we should get you back to your room now.”

She looked over at the doctor and the two boss men with a worried brow.

“I will let the children come and visit you in a little while after you get some rest. And, if you behave, I will let you come back and see Yuri.”

Alecta only nodded in agreement. Anyone could tell that she wasn’t feeling up to par or she would have argued that last point to dooms day. Her breath was sort of weezy by now and starting to rattle a bit.

With the doctor’s help she sat back in the wheel chair, speaking to Yuri in Russian, assuring him she was ok and was just going to rest for a little while and that she would be back. Of course Yuri said back that he   
knew she was lying and that something was wrong and he knew it. He implored her to just do as the doctor asked and not be a nuisance. 

Rossi wheeled her back to her room, then, he turned on the doctor and demanded that they do x-rays of her lungs. “Something isn’t right…I don’t have to have a medical degree to know that much.”

Without hesitation Dr. Pillai ordered the x-rays to be arranged; it was going to take about an hour before they were able to run the tests, so he allowed her to stay in her room and nap while they waited. Mrs. King   
sat with her the whole time, making sure she was drinking plenty of water, holding her hand. Just over 45 minutes later the doctor came to get her for the x-ray procedure. When it was over he took her back to the room and a nurse helped her get settled. It was a little while later before they found out the results. The team watched as the doctor came through the door to speak with them.

“Doctor, what seems to be the problem?”

“Agent Hotchner, it seems that our girl has a serious case of pneumonia brewing. It’s working faster than it would in a healthy person because of the damage to her lungs. She has indications of developing double   
pneumonia. It is likely she will develop a fever from it. It’s hard to tell how bad the fever will be at this point.” 

“Dr. Pillai, I must warn you…please keep an eye on her fever, closely…if it should develop. She had Scarlett Fever once when she was three, her fever reached somewhere between 102ᵒ and 104ᵒ; she began having   
convulsions because it had gotten so high. And it stayed high for about three days.” Mrs. King became seriously worried at the mere mention of fever in her daughter.

“Most of her life, when she would get sick, her fevers have gotten out of hand. Just so you know.” Kevin interjected.

The doctor took all of this into consideration, and he began to worry a little more, “Could the four of you come with me please? Dr. Mallard, I would like you in on this, she trusts you more than me at the moment.”

“Dr. Pillai, what seems to be the problem?”

“Agent Hotchner…she’s going to kill me, you’re going to kill me.” Dr. Pillai thought for a second, being killed by Agent Hotchner was the lesser of the two evils. “It seems that she, Agent Davis is nearly four to five   
months pregnant. We didn’t notice it at first, because she wasn’t showing and she didn’t give off any of the usual red flags that you typically look for. But some of the test results had come back, and the indicators   
were all there. I asked her about it and she made me swear to keep my mouth shut about it. I don’t know what the circumstances are behind this, but I can’t in good conscious keep quiet about this. With all of these problems that are occurring at one time…I am going to have to figure out what antibiotics to place her on that will not affect the pregnancy. And with the possibility of a raging fever on top of it, things are going to   
be tough.”

“Damn it.” Kevin muttered as the doctor walked away to go back to his work.

“What?” Mrs. King was interested to know what was on the young man’s mind.

“This is how she got before.”

“Excuse me, how do you mean?” Hotch became worried if this was going to be some sort of pattern with her.

“Years ago, back before…before the trial that sent her father, Jake to jail. She was pregnant, by him, and nobody knew anything about it until she actually started to show. Towards the end of her time in that house,   
I hadn’t seen her as much as I used to. Jake became a lot more possessive or just controlling, I don’t know which. She hadn’t been allowed out of the house much for days on end. The only time she made it out of   
the house was when she would go to the stables to help the stable hands care for the horses. She never ventured over to our house anymore. The first I heard of the whole scenario was that last day, when she   
escaped. Jake and his friends had brought another girl back to the house…they were always bringing women to the house. They would do things to these women that they wouldn’t even do to Lex, that didn’t leave   
out much at all, but still…something about this girl was different. Lex helped her escape; she really went out on a limb for this girl. If they had been caught I’m not sure what kind of beating Lex would have gotten, but it would have been bad I know that much. Once they were at the police station the girl told the cops not to let Lex leave alone, that she was pregnant and in danger, all of which was true.” 

“Who did you say was the baby’s father?” Mrs. King knew, she could draw a line from point A to point B, but she had to ask for clarification.

“Jake. Mrs. King, Lex did everything she could to get rid of that baby. She didn’t want it. She couldn’t handle having a permanent reminder of the things he’d done to her over the years around her for the rest of her life, the nightmares and all of those things were bad enough. To have a living breathing child running around for the rest of her days would have pushed her over the edge I think. She actually succeeded finally. She was in the hospital and got out of her room and threw herself down the stairs, the fall made her lose the baby. It took them the better part of two hours to find her on the landing between the two floors. But as far along as she was, the miscarriage was nearly too much and she flat lined at least twice that I know of before they could stabilize her properly. After that she was kept on suicide watch just to be cautious. But there were no more problems. Once she was rid of the baby, she was back to whatever normal is for her.” 

“Agent Hotchner…” Mrs. King sounded really unnerved at the prospect.

“It won’t happen a second time. I can guarantee you that much.”

“Agent Hotchner, I’ve known her since we were in diapers. She’s sneaky and manipulative and….and…that’s some of her good points. Unless you chain her to the hospital bed…..ya know, that won’t even work, she   
can usually slide her hands right out of the cuffs. What do you intend to do, physically sit on her? I’d love to see you try. It would be the last mistake you ever made. In case you didn’t notice, she can make a weapon out of damn near anything within reach.”

“Hotch and I will sit with her all night if we must. The two of you and the girls go on to my place, have one of the others drive you, and get some rest. You’ve both had a crazy day, and it will only get longer if you   
don’t.”

“I can’t leave her.” Both Mrs. King and Kevin said at the exact same time.

“If either of you were on my team, I would simply order you to do as you were told. As far as that goes, you got lucky. But seriously, go on back and get some sleep, we’ll keep watch tonight, making sure that   
nothing else will happen to her; if anything changes, we’ll call you and send a car.”

“Come on Mrs. King, it seems like we’re being over ruled here. Let’s go on and try to get a few hours of sleep anyway.”

“What about my grandbabies? They can’t stay here all night.”

“Well, Rachel and the two little ones can and should go with you. The other three, should go with you, but they have both of their parents in a hospital right now, I don’t know how easy they will be to sway.”

“Let them stay for a while longer if they like, but you two should catch a ride and get some sleep.”

“Yes Papa Rossi.” Kevin had said with a bit of sarcasm in his voice. 

“Are you getting smart boy? You know I don’t think Alecta would tolerate that.”

“You’re probably right.”

Stepping out into the hallway and getting Morgan’s attention, Hotch let him know that he wanted Morgan and Garcia to take Mrs. King and Kevin back to Rossi’s house, and that the other six women and their kids   
should follow along in another vehicle. Morgan nodded his head and asked about who was going to take care of Alecta over-night. Rossi and Hotch made it clear that they would be sitting with her during the   
night. Even though Rasputin and Mengele were both now dead, they weren’t sure if there were going to be any repercussions from any other outside forces. And beyond that, they were really worried about Alecta’s   
mental state and her physical health. Rossi, for one knew that he’d get no sleep if he didn’t stay and see it through. And it went without saying that Hotch wasn’t going anywhere. Morgan wanted to smile about that, but thought better of it for the moment. Shortly thereafter, everything had finally calmed down some, and Alecta was sleeping for the moment.

A few hours later, Alecta woke up and looked around; nobody was in the room with her. She listened to the sounds around her. It sounded as though Rossi may be in the adjoining restroom. And she could hear Hotch outside the room, near the nurse’s station; thank goodness his voice was so distinct. She crept out of bed, yanking the IV out of her hand, and threw the covers back. Luckily one of the girls had the foresight to bring her a set of her own pajamas, stupid hospital gowns. She couldn’t get to a pair of shoes fast enough so she crept over to the door to her room; she stuck her head out of the door and saw that Hotch had his back to her; he was on his cell…likely talking to one of the team members, but just as likely to his son, Jack. Seeing her opportunity, Alecta made a pained dash to the elevator; she had to get out of this place or she’d go stark raving mad. She needed to get out of here and find someplace quiet so she could think and calm her nerves a bit…a hospital wasn’t the best place to do that…once she got down to the second floor, she snuck into a stair well and made her way down to the lobby level of the hospital, then she was out through the parking garage. She started walking up the road a bit. It was a rainy night out, great, that should mix well with the pneumonia and fever they are saying she has.

Rossi comes out of the rest room, still drying his hands on some paper towels, tossing them into the trash can, and he notices that Alecta isn’t in her bed and that the IV is tossed carelessly to the side.

“Hotch!,’ Rossi yells, running for the door.

Agent Hotchner is still down near the nurse’s station wrapping up the phone call he had been on when he hears Rossi coming to the door of Alecta’s room yelling for him. He turns around and looks at the   
panicked look on Dave’s face and quickly hangs up the call, jogging back over to the door himself.

“What’s going on? Dave, where is she?”

“I was hoping you could fill that in. I had dozed off, when I woke up you were gone. I had to go to the restroom. She must’ve woken up while we weren’t looking. Shit!”

“You call the others to see if she’s contacted any of them; I’m going to check the security footage to see what it might reveal.”

“Alright; and either meet me back in here or call me and let me know what’s up.”

Both men agreed with this idea. Rossi started making calls while Hotch went out and demanded to see the security footage. He needed to see if Alecta left on her own free will and, if so, which direction she went in.

About 10 minutes later Hotch called Rossi back to let him know what the score was and vice versa.

“Hotch, nobody at the house has heard from her yet, not even her girl, Immogene. And Garcia has said that she’s received no sort of communication from her either.”

“Well, it looks like she took the elevator to the second floor, then from there she hit the stairs to try to throw us off. She was alone. We lose her on the footage until she’s picked up in the parking garage; she   
entered the garage from a utility entrance. And upon exiting the garage she makes a right. After that she’s in the wind.”

“Hotch, she’s had at least 10 minutes head start.”

Hotch was shrugging on his FBI wind breaker, going back into Alecta’s room, grabbing an extra one out of the closet, ‘I’m on it. I’m going to take one of the SUV’s and try to see if I can track her down.”

“Be careful out there, we don’t know what you’ll be walking in to.”

Hotch said he would and hung up with Rossi and made his way out of the hospital to his SUV. He took off down the road in the direction that she had started in. He was having a little trouble seeing for all the rain.   
Nearly a mile up the road he found her, she was coming up on a bridge that crossed the river. The worst possible scenario ran through his mind. He sped up and pulled around in front of her to block her path,   
getting out of the truck. She didn’t seem to pay any attention to the fact that Hotch had come up.

“What are you doing out here? You should be back in that hospital right now.”

She kept walking over to the bridge, climbing up onto the railing, sitting down and swinging her legs over the rail. She just sat there for a bit, watching the water. Or at least she would be watching the water if it wasn’t so dark and rainy outside.

“Alecta….?”

“I wanted to take a swim….had to clear my head….” She stood up on the edge of the railing, holding on to that which was still behind her. She didn’t get to jump in for that swim that she wanted. Hotch had run up   
and wrapped his arms around her from behind, stopping her just as her feet began to leave the ledge. 

“Lemme go!”

“You’re developing pneumonia, you’ve had a lung injury….just earlier today you went through a second surgery to close your stitches. And, if that wasn’t enough, you’re pregnant….I am NOT letting you do this.”

“Ooh! That damned doctor. He’s gonna get it. I never realized that there were that many law abiding citizens in Quantico. I don’t care for this at all. Back stabbers, mobsters…them I know…it’s the good guys you   
gotta watch out for.”

“Come back over the rail, I’m taking you back to the hospital.”

“I…I…”

“At least come back into the truck, I can turn the heat on there.”

She relented and was coming back over the railing, but her foot slipped, Hotch caught her just before she slipped. He pulled her up and over the rail. Alecta was surprised when he didn’t set her back down on her own two feet. She had been wheezing for breath….her coughing was back. Hotch carried her back to the SUV; he let go of her with one hand, using it to open the door of the truck. He got her sat in the seat and   
wrapped the extra jacket he’d brought around her, and then he strapped her in with the seat belt. Quickly he ran around to the driver’s side and climbed in, turning the heat on a bit. He didn’t turn it on full blast at first, he wanted to give her time to heat up gradually, and trying not to aggravate the breathing trouble she was already having. He could see her shaking from the cold that was seeping into her bones.

“You know, I think you’ve given Rossi a fright.”

Alecta looked at him, her teeth chattering, and she saw the look in his eye that he was trying to disguise. 

“Are you s-s-sure it w-w-was j-just h-him?”

Hotch stopped and looked at her momentarily, ‘And just why were you out there like that, at this time of night to boot?”

Suddenly, she looked so forlorn, her mind back on the original topic at hand. Hotch almost regretted bringing it back up.

“I’m getting too old for this.”

“Too old for what?”

“Too old for all this fighting. I’m not 24 anymore. I don’t know how many more times I can sit through somebody coming back from the dead. I watched them die; momma, Yuri, my kids…I watched them all die. I   
was put into that Godforsaken psychiatric unit because…and it was all for nothing. Nothing. I’m the world’s worst wife and mother.”

“No, you’re not…”

“Yes, I am. I believed it all. I never looked for them. I left them in that place. And now, now, Yuri will be blind for the rest of his life. Never mind the fact that he will never be able to look at me again….that doesn’t   
hurt as much as that fact that he will never be able to WATCH his children continue to grow. I’ve done that to them.”

Tears were streaking down her cheeks as she sniffled, ‘No you didn’t. You didn’t plant that bomb in the car did you?”

“I might as well have. It’s because of me that it was there. And momma…my poor momma.”

“What about her?”

“She died trying to save my life…and I lied about it all….”

Hotch was going to ask her another question, but he noticed that she was starting to not feel so good. Her face was getting sort of pink, and she was breaking out into sweats, in spite of the cold she felt. Hotch put   
his hand to her forehead, she was really burning up. 

“Look, we can debate all this later. I’m getting you back to the hospital.”

Hotch sped back to the hospital, pulling up to the emergency room entrance; on the way he had called Rossi to let him know that he had found her close by and that they were coming back. Rossi was waiting at the entrance with the doctor and a nurse and a wheelchair.

“Girl what were you trying to do, give an old man a heart attack?”

Coughing, responding weakly, ‘I’m sorry.”

Once Alecta was back up in her room, a nurse helped her out of her wet clothes and into her dry ones while the doctor arranged another extra blanket to help her get warm. Dr. Pillai took her temperature, ‘101ᵒ,   
and climbing. We will have to bring it down quickly.” 

The nurse was about to take care of calling Agent Morgan as Hotch had instructed and giving him an update, before Rossi explained that he had called Morgan when Hotch left to go find her

“Hotch, what the hell?” Rossi’s voice was gruff. 

“I found her less than a mile away, walking up the road aimlessly. She was about to jump off the bridge.”

“That girl; I’m going to have a long talk with her when she’s feeling better.”

“Take it easy on her. I think she has a lot going on in her head right now….she just hasn’t let go of it all.”

Hotch and Rossi heard a sound, looking up they saw Morgan coming with Garcia; Kevin and Mrs. King were right behind them.

“What’s happening?”

“Mrs. King, she’s developed a fever. She had escaped the hospital briefly maybe for about 15-20 minutes altogether. I found her walking up the road in the rain. The doctor is in with her now checking her status,   
and figuring out how best to combat the fever, and what pain meds to give her that won’t interfere with her pregnancy.”

“Pregnancy?”

“Morgan…” Rossi tried to stop him, but it couldn’t be done. Garcia had even grabbed him by the arm and he shrugged her off. Garcia looked at Hotch and Rossi worriedly.

“What’s wrong Garcia?”

“I don’t know exactly. He stayed with her the other night after we got back in town from L.A. I know they talked, he texted me and told me she was having a rough night. But I don’t know what is going on now.”

From down the hall they hear Morgan yelling at the doctor that he didn’t care who the Dr. thought he was, that he was going in to see his friend. Poor Dr. Pillai was stuck trying to deal with an irate Derek Morgan. 

Hotch finally stepped in and stopped Morgan from ripping the man’s head off entirely.

“Morgan you have to calm down. She needs her rest; she has finally developed that fever the doctor had warned us about. And then there’s the fact that she is still in pain from them having to reclose her stitches   
and her original surgery.”

Hotch could see the worried look on Morgan’s face. “What do you know that you aren’t telling me?”

Morgan turned and walked away not answering Hotch.

“Morgan! I have chased her down one time tonight. I will not hesitate to come after you as well.”

“Morgan!” Rossi joined in chasing him back down the hall signaling Garcia to stay in the waiting room with Kevin and Mrs. King.

They finally caught up to Morgan at the elevators and all three men entered, Hotch stood nearest the door and pushed the stop button when the elevator car was between floors. 

“Taking a page out of Gibbs’ book are we?”

“You have left me no choice. Now, what do you know that you are leaving out?”

“I promised her I wouldn’t talk about it.”

“Son don’t you see she’s making you do the same things she’s had to do all her life? You have to tell somebody?”

Knowing that Rossi was right, ‘When we were in Los Angeles, she took me back to the place, the motel that he…Fletcher had hunted her down at. I saw what happened there. I saw the aftermath of what he had   
done to her. They still haven’t cleaned the room out from that last day. Lex told me she was pretty sure the city would shut that particular motel down; apparently they have had a lot of trouble come out of there or something. Hotch, I can just about guarantee you that bastard is the father of this baby. She thought she was free of him finally; and now this.”  
Aaron Hotchner was sure of one thing and one thing only, he would never let Fletcher Davis near Alecta or any of her kids again; God help the man if he got close….most of Hotch’s shots tended to be kill shots.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kroshka moya ya po tebe skuchayu---the words spoken in Russian by Yuri translate into some form of ‘My baby, I miss you.” 
> 
> Zolotoy—Alecta’s response to Yuri, translates into ‘the golden one’ 
> 
> (Again, these are rough translations....I'm sure I have gotten at least part of them wrong, I have some foreign language stuff in some of my chapters in other stories as well....I try to find some decent translations if I can. Hopefully I do alright. Sorry if they aren't 100% accurate).


	24. Who Are You? Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kevin brings a surprise of sorts for Alecta. The plot thickens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have any educational background in the world of medicine, so I don't know how accurate or inaccurate my bits in the hospital (etc) are. Oh, and, don't ask me how people travel around so quickly. That's why they call it fiction. We can do what we want.

It was nearly a week later; Alecta’s fever was gone, and the pneumonia had finally gone away as well. She was still a little bit weak, but she was doing ever so much better. She would be going home later today. All six of her children had stopped by at some point in time to see her and sit with her while some of her team members and others went to take lunch or dinner breaks or to go home and get some real rest. 

Alecta was resting back in the hospital bed; Rachel, Sasha, and Eva were making sure all of her things were packed up for her release. Alecta was just watching them, especially the twins. The last time she had seen them, the girls were nearly five years old. She could remember the last conversation she had with them, just before…..They were so happy they were going to be going to the big school with the other kids. Up to that point they had known little of the outside world; so much of their lives had been lived at the Tea Room that Impatiev had run. Even considering how shady some of his contacts were, it was still safer than living with her. There were a lot of husbands and boyfriends that she had made enemies of by working the sex crimes division…there were a lot of them that hated her for getting their wives or girlfriends out of the dangerous situations they were in; she didn’t want any of them to come after her kids and use them as leverage against her. Of course, most people would have thought she was completely batty. Yuri worked for Impatiev. Impatiev wasn’t exactly Russian mob, but some of the clientele that patronized his Tea Room and some of his other businesses were. And on the odd occasion, if his ‘friends’ needed a job….um…done, they would ask for either Yuri or his brother, Sergei. Sergei was the type to shoot first and ask questions later, very dangerous. But, in a quiet and understated way, Yuri was so much more dangerous. Ordinarily, Yuri did the best he could to find a peaceful solution to the problem; something with less blood and noise that didn’t wind up having every cop in the city climbing their asses. On rare occasions though, if pushed, Yuri could snap and he became even more deadly than Sergei; when he got like that, you never knew when he would strike or how….the only thing for certain was that there would be a body in the river by dawn.   
But ironically the kids were safer with Yuri and Impatiev. Most people knew them and respected them; and few would ever have had the back bone to come near one of the kids for fear of their lives.

And then it all went wrong. For nearly half of her life Alecta had been wondering if any of it was worth it. Was it worth it to go undercover and try to bring down the traffickers? Was it worth it to watch her family get blown up and temporarily lose touch with reality? Was it worth it to sit there in that…that funny farm and be totally alone for all those months and be forgotten, yet again? Was it worth it for Rachel to be left behind at Heather’s house for the time being?

The damnable thing about it all was that she wasn’t really sure what the answers to these questions were. On the one hand, yes, it was all worth it. That was the job, to stop the bad guys. But then to realize that they came back, that her family wasn’t dead, that she had gone through a mental breakdown for nothing, and temporarily lost her daughter, and the icing being that one of her dearest friends had turned on her after so many years….No, in some ways, none of it had been worth it.

The thought of Theo turned Alecta’s mood from ambivalent and happy to go home to moody and sad in mere moments. She thought back to the girl that she once knew that barely spoke a word of English….her mane of auburn hair and those shocking blue eyes. Theo’s laugh was the next thing she remembered; better times after she had gotten to go to American schools and get a real education and was given a real job to send money home to her family when she was able. That laugh was what she was going to miss the most, sort of bubbly and mischievous. Alecta couldn’t reconcile that with the demon that tried to kill her. There was no light in Theo’s eyes that day. All Alecta had seen there was murderous rage. Where had she gone so wrong with that girl? What signs had she missed? Were there more of her girls, whether it was the other six in particular or around the world, that felt that way? As soon as she got out of this hospital, she was demanding a psych-eval for the entire organization. She couldn’t let another girl slip through the cracks so badly without even trying.

“Momma, don’t you start cryin’…it’ll make you start coughing again and wear you out quicker.”

“What seems to be the issue?”

“Oh, Agent Rossi, hey. Mom’s just thinking about Theo again, getting herself worked up.”

“Yeah, well stop it, now…you have to go home, and nothing should slow that down any more than it has already.”

“I know…I’ll stop. I promise.” Alecta tried to say, though she was about sob her eyes out.

“Sasha, go get Immogene. I think momma needs to talk to her a bit.”

“Yes, of course.” With that the girl made her way out of the room and down to the waiting room to find Immogene as instructed. 

Once Immogene came to the room, all others left, even Rossi…but he only left after Immogene gave him a dirty look. It didn’t matter if he had been the Pope himself, or Papa Angelov....nobody got to hear ‘Aggie’   
business. 

It was only about 10 minutes later that the others were allowed to come back in to the room; Alecta seemed some calmer now. The rest of the team, including Hotch, was at the office, dealing with the ass load of paper work that had been incurred. Mrs. King had come with Rossi to get Alecta from the hospital but was in the waiting room with her grandson. She wanted to give Alecta a little bit of time alone with the girls before things got hectic. And Kevin had left Rossi’s house earlier than they had; he said he was working on something for Alecta. Mrs. King still had no clue what that boy was up to. Within the next half an hour or so, the doctor came in with the release forms for Alecta to sign as well as to explain some of the prescriptions he was sending her home with; some of them were to battle the last bit of the pneumonia that she might still have, they hadn’t been able to give her the regular strength of medication due to her pregnancy, they didn’t want any unnecessary issues with the baby. Some of her meds were going to be for pain that she was still having from her initial injuries, and the second operation to fix her stitches. Some were for prenatal care. There was even a little something there that the doctor hoped would help her sleep; maybe it would at least take the edge off. 

Immogene was pushing the wheelchair with Alecta in it; Rachel, Sasha, and Eva were walking on either side of her. They waited under the portico just outside the emergency entrance waiting for Rossi to pull his SUV around to pick the girls up.

Once everyone was settled into their seats in the truck, with Alecta riding shot gun, they took off for Rossi’s house; Immogene was going to follow in her own vehicle with some of the Agnes’s that decided to come to the hospital to see Alecta off, as well as Mrs. King. On the way there, it seemed to Rossi as if Alecta was deep in thought; she had a worried expression on her face. He was sure that he knew what was on her mind, but he didn’t push. Soon enough he was rewarded when she spoke up.

“Where is Kevin?”

“He said he had a surprise he wanted to get for you. He should be back at the house soon enough.”

This news didn’t seem to calm Alecta much at all. “Baby, he is coming back this time. He promised he said he just had to go get a surprise for you. That’s all.” Mrs. King had put a hand on Alecta’s shoulder from the back seat, trying to reassure her. 

After about a 15 minute drive they had reached Rossi’s place; Rossi got out and then went around to the passenger side to help Alecta out, Mrs. King went ahead of them and got the door open. 

“Now, when you get in here, I want you to go lay down for a bit….”

“Momma, I just came from lying around doing nothing in the hospital…I don’t think I need to lie down again…”

“Don’t argue with me child. You didn’t get good quality of rest there; all those machines beeping all hours of the day, and the nurses and doctor having to keep checking on you…not to mention that….that   
‘unfortunate’ incident that set you back. And, of course, let’s never mind the fact that you’re pregnant. Get into bed now. I’ll sit in here bedside if I must to make sure you rest.”

Rossi helped her shuffle over to the bed and pulled the light blankets over her once she was in there. By the time she had laid her head against the pillow she was already out cold; she was more tired and stressed out than she was letting on it seemed.

“She looks so young when she sleeps, not at all encumbered by the weight of the world on her shoulders.” Prentiss observed, quietly from the doorway after having arrived, having finished enough of her paperwork that she didn’t mind leaving the rest for tomorrow.

“I wish she could feel that way all the time,’ Mrs. King replied, barely above a whisper.

Maybe an hour to 1 ½ hours later, Kevin came back to Rossi’s place. Mrs. King was sitting with Alecta as she promised (or threatened) that she would. Rossi let him in the door. 

“Agent Rossi, this is my mom and dad; Louise and Daniel Eason. This is the surprise that I’ve been working on for Lex.”

About that time they heard Alecta waking up, it sounded as though she was going to scream until she blew out a lung. Kevin pushed past Rossi in a dead run, his parents behind him, his dad hobbling along on his cane as fast as he could. 

As they came through the door, they saw Mrs. King standing there, a worried look on her face. 

“What the hell….”

“Not now, ma. Not now.”

“She was just lying here, sleeping as peacefully as I have seen her since she was just a girl. And then…”

Garcia had come running in on bare feet with Morgan down behind her, the two of them jockeying for position with Hotch for a spot by the door jamb. Garcia won out shoving the two alpha males aside.

Turning to the others, Garcia took charge of the situation, “Get out, all of you.”

“I’m not just leaving her here.” 

“Make me leave.”

Mrs. King and Kevin nearly spoke in complete unison.

Garcia stood up to her full height and walked up to them. “I don’t care who either one of you are. I said get out, and get out now.” After shoving Mrs. King and Kevin out with the rest of the small group that had congregated at the door, Garcia shut and locked it. She walked over and sat on the side of the bed and stroked Alecta’s forehead whispering to her that it was over now, that it was all over. It took some long minutes before the screaming stopped, and even then Garcia didn’t come out immediately. 

When she did come out, she was as pale as a sheet herself.

“Baby Girl….what is it? What happened?”

“It was just a nightmare.” Garcia rambled on, walking away.

“Pen, it was more than that and you know it. What happened sweet heart?”

“Garcia, what was the nightmare about?” Hotch’s voice sounded so strange after he had been quiet for so long.

Kevin began to run into the room, his dad stopped him, grabbing him by the arm. “No boy.”

“Let him go, Dan’el, let him go,” Kevin’s mom chided.

In the meantime, Mrs. King ran back in there to her daughter, seeing her sitting on the edge of the bed, gasping for breath, having vomited all over the floor.

“T-t-tell the old man I will clean this mess u-up.” 

Alecta’s voice was shaky, unstable, barely above a whisper. 

“Don’t you even worry about it,” Came Rossi’s voice from the doorway. Hotch came in and scooped her out of the bed and carried her to the living room.

“What is it with you and Morgan having to carry me everywhere? Put. Me. Down. I yacked on Rossi’s floor. I have to clean it up….”

“Here, Rachel, I managed to scare up some towels.” Kevin’s mom, Mrs. ‘Ouisa said.

“Hey, how do you know where….?”

“You keep your towels? It’s a bathroom, it’s not like it’s hard.”

As Hotch sat with Alecta in a chair, the two mothers could be heard taking over the situation like it was everyday business. 

“Are all the women from your hometown this….”

“Yes sir they are.” Mr. Dan’el was heard to tell Rossi.

“I’m just amazed that mom has overlooked the simple fact that Mrs. Rachel isn’t dead.”

“Jake had something to do with it all. She knows this. Case closed.”

“Rossi, I’m….”

“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry.”

“Well I am.”

“What was the nightmare about?”

After looking into Hotch’s questioning eyes, Alecta shoved him a bit out of the way and stood on her own two feet, walking over to a window. 

“A great many things. The biggest thing that I remember from it is….the body.”

As Immogene, Oona, Cossette, Ivory, Lakshmi, and Isis all gasped and looked at each other nobody could have known that out there in the darkness that was settling over Quantico there was someone that could see them. He watched as Alecta stood in the window, biding his time. He would have to thank his friends. Mark and Nathan Goodnight had been useful, quite useful. Too bad they weren’t going to ever see the inside of a court room. It was good to have a few guys on the inside to handle your dirty work. The time would come when Alecta would get hers. She couldn’t take his children and just get away with it.   
Stamping out his cigarette, he went back to his car, parked down the block and waited for the time she would be left mainly unprotected.


	25. Who Are You? Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The devil comes to Quantico. Note the reference to Ares, God of War again. I'm warning you he will factor into the follow up story somewhere as well. Can't say how, that would be telling. :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Now that I have no shame, I will proclaim it. Given the chance, I will go where the people are,  
> Tell everybody; if you shut me here, I will move the very woods and rocks to pity.  
> The air of Heaven will hear, and any god, If there is any god in Heaven, will hear me.”  
> (Excerpt of Ovid’s Metamorphoses; Philomela’s speech)

“What was the body?”

“The Body isn’t a what, but a who, Mrs. King. It’s the only thing that Alecta wouldn’t tell me about her time undercover.”

“Who was the body, then?”

Without turning from the window Alecta began to explain, “We never actually knew her name. I think she was Serbian or Croatian; more likely Serbian. I don’t think the traffickers ever intended to sell her like the others; they kept her around solely for their amusement. She was the youngest of the girls there; from what I was told, the best guess at her age was that she was about 13.”

“What did they do to her?” 

Turning and looking into Hotch’s eyes, “everything that they didn’t do to the rest of us.

She turned back to the window, still looking out; it seemed as if she could still see the girl. “They started by ripping out her finger and toe nails, one by one….they only did it to make her scream a little, and keep her from being able to scratch them when they came for her. Then they got tired of her trying to bite them…so they pulled her teeth. Next, they blinded her permanently with some sort of acid.”   
Lakshmi took a drink of her coffee and took over. “Within days of blinding her, they cut out her tongue. Then they stopped feeding her. If she couldn’t speak, she couldn’t ask for food, and they would not trouble themselves with her.”

“Philomela….”

“What Reid?”

“Morgan, he’s right.”

Everyone looked at Alecta, “What is he talking about?”

“Oh Derek, it’s a reference to the myth of Philomela and Procne. They were sisters. Procne was married to King Tereus of Thrace, he was a son of Ares the God of war. Tereus met Procne’s sister, Philomela when he went to retrieve her to bring her to his kingdom to visit Procne. He thought she was so beautiful, he wanted her. She didn’t want him. He basically kept her hostage for days in a home in the woods that he had reserved for hunting. He raped her as often as he could, likely letting his men have their turns. When she threatened to tell her sister what he had done, he had her tongue removed. She could not speak. She wove the story of her rape into a tapestry that she showed to her sister. They concocted a revenge against the king in which they killed his son and used his body to make a soup that they served to the king.”

“What else was there?”

“Wasn’t that enough?”

“Lex…”

“After they cut out her tongue, we, some of the girls the traffickers controlled, would save some of our food for her. We didn’t get a lot to begin with. But we would each put back a little bit here, a little there….then one of us would crawl into the air conditioning duct work and make our way to the room that they kept her in; we couldn’t just walk the halls and go in, guards were everywhere. Before they blinded her it was easier. She could see us coming. After they blinded her, she would fight us; she couldn’t see who was coming after her….”

“We knew the end was coming soon when they began cutting off fingers and toes one at a time. They would only do it whenever they were bored and wanted to hear somebody scream. And, then came the legs….and then the arms. By the time they finished she was nothing more than a body with a head; a head that could not see, a head that could not speak.” Immogene turned away from Rossi’s liquor cabinet after commandeering some of his best Scotch. 

“Oh, you take my mystery jug from me, but you raid another man’s liquor cabinet; tramp.”

“Ma, don’t get like that.”

“Ivory, don’t try. Her alcohol to blood ratio is skewed.” Immogene headed this fight off at the pass by handing the tumbler of Scotch over to Alecta.

“Really? I’m pregnant.”

“Momma, when has that ever stopped you?”

“Splitting hairs, Rachel.” Alecta’s voice was almost sing song.

After taking a drink, Immogene continued, “the body had finally died by the time they tossed her into the flames with the others. The thing that keeps momma awake at night the most is hearing the girl screaming as they butchered her. It was all she had left to do for herself. She had no arms or legs to try to strike out at the guards. All she could do was lay there and scream and die.” She began to take another drink as she neared the end of her statement.

“I couldn’t save that girl. There was nothing I could do. But I was getting the rest of them out or die trying.” Alecta sort of rubbed at the scar around her throat where the knife had been placed all those years ago; if   
Yuri hadn’t taken that shot when he did, she wouldn’t be here now. 

“Now, she’s our bad omen.”

“What is that supposed to mean Oona?”

“JJ, it means that, when one of us sees her it usually means something bad is going to happen to one of us. She is sort of like the Banshee of the Irish folklore, same kinda thing.”

“Whatever. I haven’t got time for this. I’m going to check on Yuri and the kids.”

Yuri was sleeping; he was on some pain pills of his own. Alecta kissed his forehead, and he smiled in his sleep and turned over to sleep deeper. She went down the hall to check on her girls. Sasha and Eva were   
sleeping quietly. Getting to the room where her son, Oleg, wasn’t sleeping; she saw that he was sitting up in the bed wide awake.

“Baby, what’s wrong?”

“I keep thinking that when I wake up, we’re still going to be there, in that place and you will be gone again. And then, I heard you screaming.”

“I’m not going anywhere baby boy. If I had my way, I wouldn’t have been separated from you before; you know that right? And as far as the scream…that was just a nightmare.”

“Was it about the traffickers?”

“Yes, baby it was.”

“I have them too mom. Don’t worry, I have them too.”

“But I don’t want that for you. What are yours about?”

“Just the day that it happened, the bomb…how it was loud. And then you were gone, I never saw you again. And the people we were kept by, they kept threatening Sasha and Eva. They said that, if he, Rasputin,   
couldn’t have you then they would have to do. But daddy wouldn’t ever let them get that close. That’s why they blinded him. I can still hear him scream as they did that. He didn’t talk for a long time after that. He   
was stuck in his own head. He never talked to me about it. He said I didn’t need to know.” 

“If that’s what he told you then it’s likely he was right. Besides, I don’t care how big you are, you’re still just a little boy…”

“Maaaa, I’m 14, almost 15. I’m nearly seven feet tall….and dad told me that I had never actually been a little boy…”

“You are still our baby boy. Save it. The argument won’t work. Now, go to sleep. We can talk more tomorrow if you feel like you need to. I don’t want my babies to have the same kind of nightmares that I do.”

“I don’t think anything can be done for it Ma. Will you stay, at least until I get back to sleep?”

Alecta looked into her son’s blue eyes and she knew she’d give that child anything he wanted until the day she died. She nodded her head; Oleg lay back down in the bed, Alecta covered him up with a sheet and   
light blanket. Then, she herself went over to a chair in the corner of the room near the window and sat down, curling up in a ball in the chair; her head was resting on one of the chair arms, and she could still see   
her dear boy looking at her as if he was afraid to close his eyes only to open them and she would be gone. God knows how she understood him. 

She wasn’t sure how long it had been, but the next thing Alecta registers in her mind is being picked up out of the chair. Mumbling sleepily, she questioned why everyone always had to carry her, ‘I have legs ya know?”

“Hush, I’m putting you back into a bed so you can get some real sleep.”

Hearing Hotch’s voice Alecta’s eyes snapped open, ‘Put me back, he needs me.” 

“He’s a big boy, he’ll be alright.”

Alecta began to struggle to get out of Hotch’s grip, ‘Please! Put me back, you don’t understand.” 

“I can stay with him, if you think it will be alright?” 

Alecta saw her mother standing in the hall, waiting on her reply. Alecta just looked at her mother, the first Rachel, weighing her options.

“If he wakes in the middle of the night, I will come and get you, if that’s what he wants.”

To even suggest it fell on deaf ears, Alecta had already rested her head against Hotch’s shoulder and fallen back asleep. Hotch only shook his head as he took her back down the hall to the now clean bedroom,   
placing her in the bed, pulling the covers up. He sat down in a chair that was in the corner of her room; many of the bedrooms at Rossi’s house were done the same way. They were large rooms, king-sized bed, a sitting area over by the windows. There was often a small reading table between the two chairs in that area. Hotch picked his seat for the night.

Kevin was watching over the children; Rachel, Sofie, and Emma for the night. Rachel had curled up with the twin four year olds and had an arm draped over them both Sofie rubbed her little nose with the forefinger of her left hand, rolling over to wrap an arm around Rachel’s neck, lightly, in her sleep; she was between Rachel and Emma. Immogene decided that she would keep watch over Sasha and Eva. The other members of the Agnes’s that decided to stay were scattered about the house in the living room; some sleeping on the sofas or in chairs, anywhere there was space for a human body to fit. Waking up in the morning, Rossi would swear to himself that it looked like Jonestown in there, bodies everywhere. The children of the remaining members of Alecta’s inner circle were taken into the care of Kong and some of the members of the Georges. After the last few days, the Georges were the only people, outside of themselves, that they trusted with the kids. Some of the children were actually old enough to take care of themselves; being in their mid-teens, they could at least prepare their own meals, and take care of their own hygiene. And knowing the sort of mothers they had, they could likely disarm anybody that came after them in short order. But, still…the faith of each one of them had been shaken, from Alecta on down the line of her six remaining closest friends. Where there had once been eight ‘immortals’ there were now only seven…there were now only six of the lucky ones left, the seventh having made the decision to turn her back on everything and being taken out by Gibbs’s sniper shot. But, more than anything, Theo’s betrayal and admissions to Alecta just before her death, brought back to memory all of Alecta’s short comings. How many of those girls had she really saved?

Sure, they were no longer in the clutches of these horrible traffickers; that was something to be thankful for. But, they each had their own nightmares; they all dealt with it in their own ways. But, how many of them felt the way Theo had all this time? Could Alecta still trust them? Would they all soon turn on her? In the moment that she realized that Theo had gone to the dark side, Alecta was transported back to the feeling of hopelessness to save them; it was the way she had felt about The Body. She hadn’t been able to save that poor girl; and perhaps feeding her and keeping her alive longer was another form of torture in the long run….but Alecta had hoped that if she kept the child alive long enough, she would be able to get her out and get her medical attention. Although, had it worked out that way, the child would have likely spent the rest of her life in some sort of medical facility, being unable to care for herself properly.

As Alecta tried to sleep again, these are the thoughts that swirled around in her head; and they would continue to do so until she saw to it that the psych-evals were being done. As Alecta turned over onto her back trying to get comfortable she began having trouble breathing. She subconsciously knew it was another nightmare…it was always like this. She’d have a nightmare, wake up in fits, be up for a while to calm her nerves again, and go back to trying to sleep again. And the pattern just repeated itself every couple of hours or so. This time she stupidly thought that she might stand a chance of actually getting some quality sleep with the medications she was on….no such luck. Alecta was tossing around for several minutes before Hotch woke up enough to realize that she was having another nightmare. How many could one person have in a night? He noticed that she was quite distressed and that her breathing was rather labored because of it; that coupled with the pneumonia she’d had. He sat on the edge of the bed, gently, and took her by the shoulders to try to wake her. It had the desired effect, almost. She snapped awake, sitting straight up, suddenly; she was gasping for breath. Her eyes were looking around the room warily, much like the first day Hotch met her and they were filling out her paper work that would make her an official part of the team. She didn’t seem to recognize her surroundings; still struggling for a decent breath, she jumped up to her feet and ran to the end of the bed and jumped down, running out of the room; Hotch had the presence of mind to follow her. She was making her way to the stairs, going down them. She was going to take off running again, like that night at the hospital when she first found out she was pregnant. 

Meanwhile, outside, just up the road a respectable distance, a car had just pulled up to the curb to park. The driver shut the engine off. He had just returned from grabbing a bite to eat from a small diner up the road a few miles back. The food was actually pretty decent, not bad at all for a greasy spoon diner. It helped him kill an hour and get out of the car to stretch his legs. He was a tall man, being scrunched up in that car for three or four days of driving and then having to watch this house…but it was all going to be worth it to see that bitch’s face when he came after her again. God, it would be so worth it. Nobody took his children from him, least of all that whore he married. Mark and Nathan had been right to say that she needed to learn a hard lesson. But, be that as it may, they had no right to strike her. She was his, she was going to die as his if he had anything to say about it. This little divorce was merely a hitch in his plans, nothing to concern himself over.

As he put out yet another cigarette, he saw her running up the street. This was better than his original plan. In his plan he was going to have to wait until sometime during the coming day to sneak into the house while she would likely be left largely unattended. But this was so very much better. She was coming to him. He knew she was running, afraid of who knows what, and wasn’t paying much attention to her surroundings. That was the thing about her, as dangerous as she was. If she was on a case of some sort, she was all ears; she was alert and as good as any radar. She was quite deadly, he’d seen that himself on countless occasions. But when it came to herself and being in panic mode….that was a different story. That she couldn’t control and it made her such an available target. 

Quietly, he got out of his car before she got very much closer to him; he shut the car door as quietly as possible and moved around to the tail end of the car. As she got closer he jumped out and grabbed her slamming her down on her back on the hard surface of the street, the back of her head connecting with the road. 

With his right hand gripping her throat, the man leaned forward and spoke to her clearly, “So you thought you could hide my children from me did you whore?” 

She was trying to get free, but the grip he had on her throat was too tight, and she couldn’t kick him off of her, he was too bulky. She could only scream as he licked the left side of her face.

“Let me go! Let me go!”

“Oh, but why; when we could finish what we started months ago back home? Did you honestly think I wouldn’t find out about what was going on? You should know me better than that.” 

He was holding her down; she knew what was going to happen next and she couldn’t stop it….

Hotch had come running out of her room following pretty closely on her heels, but she was quite fast. Rossi and the others had heard the commotion as Hotch sprinted down the stairs after her and come out of   
their rooms. Yuri had woken up to the commotion and was feeling his way to the door of his room.

“Stay here papa; let them take care of it.” Eva was heard to tell her father. She didn’t want him trying to navigate on his own and perhaps wind up in worse condition than he was in. 

As Hotch ran out of the house and down the street toward where he heard the screaming coming from, Morgan and JJ were hot on his heels, with Rossi and Prentiss not far behind. Reid went around to circle   
behind the scene; Kevin followed him. The two Rachels came out to the front yard; Sasha as well as Alecta’s six friends kept an eye on Sofie and Emma to be sure that nobody was coming for them. 

After coming within approximately 20 feet of the scene, Hotch drew his gun and yelled.

“Fletcher Davis, you are under arrest for assault of a federal agent…..”

Before he could get any farther with his warning, Fletcher grabbed Alecta by her right wrist and jerked her up off of the ground, pulling her in front of him. 

“Do you think I give two shits what you say Agent Hotchner? You might kill me, but not without taking her out as well. And to be quite honest, I think she rather deserves it. Did you know this bitch took my children   
from me? Yeah, she even hid the pregnancy from me while she was at it. She is gonna pay big time for that.” 

As he kept talking Hotch realized how terrified Alecta seemed of him. She still wasn’t able to breathe normally; Fletcher had shifted to the point of having his hand around her throat still. And when he shifted again, he wrapped on of his arms around her waist, lifting her off of her feet, holding her tightly against him. Alecta looked Hotch in the eye; hers were large and fearful. She knew what Fletcher intended to do if he got a   
chance. She had been married to him for far too long not to know what he was thinking. 

Realizing what the look in Alecta’s eyes were trying to tell him, Hotch took aim; he prayed silently that he was able to make the shot and not injure Alecta. Seeing what Hotch had in mind, and that he was worried about taking the shot, Alecta leaned forward a bit and then rammed the back of her head as hard as she could against Fletcher’s forehead. This caused him to lift his head a bit out of the way and gave Hotch just a   
couple of inches to work with. With that opening, Hotch pulled the trigger, the shot hit it’s mark, almost dead on between Fletcher’s eyes, sending the man crumpling to the ground, still with an arm around Alecta, taking her with him. Alecta put her arms out in front of her the best way she could to try to cushion her fall; she was trying to wriggle loose of Fletcher’s dead body. 

As she continued to struggle under the dead weight, Kevin, Reid, and Morgan ran to roll Fletcher over. Alecta scurried away quickly; it was as if she was afraid he would get up and come back after her. Fletcher’s blood was all over her; her clothes…her hands from trying to push him off of her…it was all covered. 

Hotch came over to help her stand, but before he could do anything more than lean in and offer his hand, she had crawled over on her hands and knees to where her estranged husband’s dead body was lying.   
Alecta used the fingers of her left hand to poke at his cheek, to run her fingertips along the line of his jaw; leaning in closer, she shook him a bit.

Looking up at Hotch, in that moment looking for all the world like Sofie and Emma, “He’s really dead right?”

“Yes, he’s gone.”

“NO. Make sure; he’ll come back….the dead are always coming back these days.” She crawled closer to him, vigorously shaking him by the shoulders now. She didn’t seem satisfied that he was really dead; it was like   
she couldn’t wrap her brain around it all.

Cops started showing up; damned neighborhood watch. Hotch and the others knew they were going to have to give their statements; he looked at Kevin, who merely nodded at him.

As Hotch walked to the police officers and detectives that showed up to the scene, Kevin gathered Alecta, ‘come on old girl, let’s get you sat down inside, and have Immogene look at your head.”

In a small, quivering voice that was trying hard not to fall apart Alecta was as always comical about the state of the situation…”Don’t worry about me, worry about the poor road. It received quite a shock when I hit.”

“Be that as it may darlin’ we need to have one of the girls look at your head and see if they think you need the hospital.”

“I’m not going back. But this leads me to my next question…”

Hoisting her up in his arms, “Which is?”

“First of all, put me down. My legs work perfectly well. M-o-m-m-a! make him put me down!”

“Deal with it, he’s your friend.”

“Everywhere I turn, I tell ya…please put me down. I can walk ya know.”

“You were tossed to the ground, you head bounced off of the pavement, you could have a head wound….”

“It’s as hard as a rock,’ Alecta replied, knocking on the side of her own head.

“I am not debating that. What I’m saying is….”

“Smart ass.”

“What was your next question baby?”

“Can I stay awake now? Please? Don’t make me go back to sleep, I don’t think I could bear it again tonight.”

As much as she argued the point, after so much activity, good or bad, Alecta could barely keep her eyes open. It seemed as though the years of insomnia were all catching up to her at once.

Hotch was soon walking back up to the group as they re-entered Rossi’s house; Kevin was still arguing with Alecta as to whether or not he was allowing her to walk into the house on her own two feet or not.

“Hotch, what about the cops and her statement?” after all, years of protocol had left Reid wondering.

“I talked to them and asked them if we couldn’t do this later, like perhaps tomorrow, any other time but now.”

“I promise I won’t make you go back to sleep if you don’t want to; I’ll stay up with you, if you want me to.”

Coming up on Kevin and Lex, “We should take her to the hospital….”

“No, Hotch I don’t need to go. Look, I’m….well I’d show you that I’m ok, if Ironman over here would put me down.”

“Fine.”

Kevin carefully sat Alecta back on her feet, as she went to take a few steps to prove she could walk, she stumbled…stumbled right into Hotch’s arms, landing against his chest as he caught her.

“And all of that without a drop of rum,’ she said with a snicker, paraphrasing Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean.

“Alright to the hospital with you then…”

“But nooo, I’m ok, I promise. It’s just, with so many people carrying me around lately, I seem to have forgotten how to walk. OW!!!” Alecta yelled as she grabbed her head with her hands and crumpled a bit as Hotch   
held on to her. Kevin quickly came to her side.

“What’s wrong darlin’?”

“Delayed reaction….oh my God, my head is killing me. Chop it off, chop it off.” 

Without even missing a beat, Aaron Hotchner scooped Alecta up and carried her over to the car, with her arguing the entire way about going back to the hospital.

“Look, you’re pregnant. Even if you care nothing about yourself, you should have some feelings for the baby. I just want you to get checked out, and if the doctor says it’s safe to bring you back, we will.”

Hotch finished up by fastening her seat belt for her since she wasn’t really cooperating much at all.

“Hotch…’ he looked into her eyes, ‘I don’t wanna go back to that place. Don’t make me stay.”

She sounded so small and desperate, and her eyes were big and brown, you could drown in them; she must be able wrap everyone around her pinky finger. As Hotch made his way around the SUV to the driver’s   
side, he saw Oleg coming out of the house pulling on a jacket.

“I’m coming with you.”

“I’ll be with your mom the whole time.”

“Listen Agent Hotchner, I lost my mother for nearly 13 years of my life. I’m going with you, deal with it.”

Considering that he had to look up to the young man, and Oleg probably outweighed him by a good 30lbs of what seemed to be mostly muscle, Hotch shook his head in agreement. With an emotional young man   
that size, you picked your battles.

Once they arrived at the hospital, the nurse at the station greeted them. “Back so soon, what’s the trouble now?”

“Ah, nothing much, I tripped and fell. Dudley Dooright over here decided to be over dramatic about everything.”

“So the grip marks around your neck, somebody tried to catch you?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

“Come on child, let’s get you X-rayed and see what’s going on with the baby.”

“Nurse Lasko, if you could have the doctor look at her head, she hit it when she…fell.”

“You got it doll. Come on girl; let’s get this show on the road.”

Nurse Lasko pushed Alecta on back to the exam room in the wheel chair that an orderly had procured for them. She chatted with Lex a bit on the way back like they were old pals. The doctor came in, looked her   
head wound over and decided that, as long as her friends kept an eye on her over-night, there was no reason that she couldn’t go back home, as far as that was concerned anyhow. Then he ran an ultrasound to check on the baby. Everything checked out pretty well…just seemed like the bump on the head may have rang her bell a little bit.

Knowing how nervous Lex was about this visit, “I’m not going to keep you over-night this time. You can go back home and get some more rest; I’ll just make sure that your friends keep their eyes on you at least   
over-night. You should be fine. Just, no more drama for the next few days, yeah?”

“Sure thing…just gotta figure a way to keep people from trying to kill me for a bit.”

“I think your friends have you covered.”

The doctor walked back out to the waiting room with her so he could tell Hotch his recommendations for her care over the next few hours.

The drive back to Rossi’s house was sort of quiet, Oleg had dozed off in the back seat, Alecta looking back to check on him every few minutes. 

Quietly, so she didn’t wake Oleg up, ‘ya know, I hope I have another boy this time. It would be nice for him to have a brother….I already have so many daughters, five. Did you know I had another little boy once…”

“What happened?”

“What always happened. We had a fight, Fletcher and I. It all went wrong.”

Sniffing, she turned her head to look out the window, effectively letting Hotch know she wouldn’t speak about it any further. It was quite alright for now, he’d let it go. He had over-heard the argument that she and   
Kevin had when Kevin first came back into the picture. He knew all he needed to know about that right now.

Taking a chance, ‘So when everything calms down, do you think you will get back to what you had with Kevin?”

“Hmmm, I doubt it. I still love him ‘til nothing makes sense, that’ll never change. I would fight you to the death for my boy….but I hurt him and myself bad enough years ago by walking out. Even if we love each   
other equally as much, that’s a lot of shit to get past, and in the backs of our minds we would always wonder if we were really over it or just playing at forgiving each other. I can’t live that way. I love him, he loves me, he knows about his daughter now, and they are working on building a relationship of sorts that works for them…that’s all I wanted to come out of this. We can be friends, and that’s about all. The next person to come into my life will have to deal with it. I’m not giving up my best friend in the entire world again. And they will also have to deal with Yuri more to the point. He and I are still married, technically speaking anyway.”

Her voice seemed to strain to keep from crying about that idea more than she already had.

“What’s so bad about still being married to Yuri? You love him.”

“All those years we lost. All those years I could have watched this one (nodding to the boy in the back seat) learning how to walk and talk and terrorize his sisters like a normal kid…it was ripped from me. And   
during that time, I fell into a trap. Fletcher was tall, good looking, and charming. He was everything in the world that most women look for. When he came into my life things for me couldn’t have gotten much lower   
for me. I was on a mission to get myself killed. On assignments I was reckless. I burned through partners like crazy.

Fletcher swept in, smiled at me…what was his pick up line…..it was something about having to sit on a stack of phone books to see over my desktop….I thought that was pretty funny at the time; not your typical   
pick-up line. It took balls to pull that one off. 

Yuri being alive….it almost feels like all those years I was…all those years with Fletcher wound up being for nothing. It’s like I suffered all those years for absolutely nothing. As happy as I am that he and the kids   
are alive only I and God will ever know just how happy I am; it hurts to know that all those years getting beaten and stalked by my own husband didn’t have to happen. I had fallen in love with him while we dated for   
two years, and in the end he didn’t even really want me in the first place; he was only out to win a few bucks in bet with his friends.

Besides, I don’t know how likely I am to want to be involved with anyone else. My track record sucks. The one person that ever loved me, besides mom, and I walk away. I nearly get my first husband killed. I did get   
my second one killed, though, he had it coming. I’m bad luck. Smart money would stay as far away from me and my rag-tag bunch of kids as it could get.” 

The rest of the ride, Alecta was quiet, lost in thought; as was Aaron Hotchner. He had to think of how he could change her mind. But she was right; she was still married to Yuri. He may yet be relegated to admiring her from the sidelines. But it was something he would have to deal with when or if it happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that was an odd place to end it, and maybe the ending sucked a bit, I dunno. But at the time I wrote this chapter originally, I decided to jut cut it off at the knees like that because otherwise it would have continued aimlessly, the way so many of my ideas seem to do.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuri tries to be somewhat pragmatic about things. Alecta doesn't do pragmatic apparently. Plans are made for a trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 26 coming down the line. In this chapter I think that Yuri and Alecta are going to have a discussion about the state of their marriage and that he thinks they should split up (his explanation is in the story). The first quote by Ben Franklin pretty much sums it all up.
> 
> Lost time is never found again. (Benjamin Franklin)
> 
> All my life, my heart has yearned for a thing I cannot name. (Andre Breton)
> 
> I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it. (Audrey Hepburn)

After arriving back at the house, Hotch and Oleg helped Alecta inside. They got her settled on the sofa after her begging them to not put her back to bed. Hotch went into Rossi’s kitchen to get a glass of water and get some of her medication together; Rossi followed him, curious.

“How’d it go?”

“Don’t ask. Did you know that her friend, Mac is a doctor? Yeah, he studied in Glasgow, then, he got licensed over here.”

“Nice.”

“Yeah, he checked her over, saying that everything looked like it might actually be alright. He said that as long as we monitor her overnight and make sure she takes her meds she should be fine. Although, he did   
say that the baby is alright. I can’t believe it. The way her head bounced off of the pavement; half of her skull could be lying out there right now, and she would be sent home with a Band-Aid and a sucker, being told to watch where she walks next time.”

“So, tell us how you really feel. Is it ok if I ask you something, as a friend?”

“It’s your house. This doesn’t sound good.”

Rossi smirked at Hotch, a gleam in his eye; oh yeah Hotch was doomed.

“It’s really more of a statement really, but whatever. I’ve been watching you, well you with Alecta. You’re developing feelings for her, are you not?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, Aaron, don’t try it. I taught you that trick. I’ve seen you. I’m old, but I am not deaf, dumb, and blind.”

“I don’t know.”

“Aaron.”

Hotch made a sound of exasperation to go with the look that had been on his face for days now.

“I’m too old for this shit man.”

“And she’s not? Tell me if any of this rings any bells for you. Jake King, Fletcher Davis, Rasputin, Mengele. She was betrayed by the bureau after going into hell. I’m not lying to you when I say it, that nobody in that damned Hoover building would speak her name above a whisper. She was betrayed by her own precinct when she worked sex crimes back in L.A.; they turned a blind eye to everything that Fletcher did to her, they practically served her up on a platter for him. You’re getting too old for this? Hotch, your friends, your co-workers….we have never turned on you. Every decision you have made as team leader, while we may question it at times, has always been backed up when push came to shove. 

The two of you have a lot in common actually, when you think about it. Your dad beat you and your mom for years, before dying of cancer. Nobody came to help you. 

When her father spent years beating her, after her mother disappeared, other than Kevin and his parents, she had nobody. The elderly couple did what they could, but after what happened to her mother, they   
backed off of a lot of their efforts. And entire town Aaron….an entire town stood by and watched what happened to her and did nothing about it. And now, she’s been left to question if she can even trust her work with the Agnes’. That girl turning traitor on her, that’s left her questioning everything she is.

I’m only going to say this about the situation; whatever feelings you do have for her, you better be damned sure of them. She’s been running her entire life; and usually she’s running away from things. She’s never   
had a real home. She will test you, but you have already figured that part out.”

“It’s a fairly moot point anyway at the moment. For one, she’s still married to Yuri, now that he’s been found alive. And, even if it wasn’t for that, there’s Kevin. There are some guys in front of me that will likely take   
order of importance.”

“Well, we shall have to wait and see how this goes then don’t you think?”

Hotch merely rolled his eyes at the older man and walked back out of the kitchen with the meds and glass of water in his hands. Kevin had been talking to Lex trying to keep her from moving around too much and   
in general just keeping her occupied.

Oleg had fallen asleep in a chair that sat down near one end of the couch, he was already back asleep. The poor boy was scared to leave his mother’s side, though, nobody could honestly blame him. Sasha helped   
Yuri down the stairs; Eva and Rachel kept Sofie, Emma, and Jazzy busy upstairs trying to get them to go back to bed. They little girls had been allowed up for a few minutes so they could make sure their mommy was alright; as soon as they were satisfied that all was well, they were lead back up to bed. But they wouldn’t cooperate. They kept breaking out and coming back downstairs to be with their mother. Honestly, it was as if Rachel and Eva weren’t really trying too hard after the first four times. Eventually the decision was made that the girls could stay down there with Lex for a bit.

After taking some of the meds that the doctor had cleared her for, Lex was reclining against the well pillowed arm of the sofa, her favorite blanket wrapped over her, her two small children had climbed under there with her and had since dozed off, one on each side. Sofie was on Lex’s left side, which faced the rest of the room; Emma was asleep against Lex’s right side, which was pressed against the couch. They were sleeping on their stomachs with one arm each draped across their mother’s neck; one of Emma’s little fingers had one of her mother’s curls wrapped around it. Jazzy was sitting with Rachel and the other twins dozing on Rachel’s shoulder. Rachel and the other twins were sitting at the dining room table having a late night snack and a little something to drink.

Sometime during all of the excitement, Alecta had fallen asleep, her children in her arms. She had her head turned to the left, her nose almost rubbing Sofie’s; Sofie moved in her sleep and her hand came to rest on her mother’s right cheek.

Hotch was watching Alecta with her girls, and Rossi was watching him, as was Mrs. King. For that matter, Garcia was watching Hotch, and that lead to Morgan taking an interest in the scenario. Morgan was already   
as sure as Rossi was that Hotch was having some sort of feelings for the new girl; and like Rossi, Morgan was pretty sure he knew what those feelings were. Hell, Morgan wasn’t sure there was a man that existed that didn’t have those feelings about this woman, Alecta. Even he himself had for just one hot second. But at the end of the day, Morgan’s heart really belonged to Garcia, no doubt about it. Morgan could admit it   
full on, he was sprung. But, in those first moments that he saw Alecta enter the bull-pen, he could safely say that he had those same sorts of thoughts that most men have when they look at her. She was petite, well she was short, and that was the only petite thing about her. Otherwise she was nearly indescribable. Her body was like 40 miles of bad road in the flesh. And large dark brown eyes that you could quite easily drown in. She had this southern drawl when she spoke; it wasn’t as heavy as some he’d heard in his travels over the years, but he doubted it would be after all the moving around she’d done in the past. But her drawl was enough that it kept you hanging on the edge of your seat, waiting to hear what she would say next. She was just a little left of completely bat shit crazy. She had a dangerous side to her. Yes. Derek Morgan could understand quite easily actually how Hotch might have fallen under her spell. 

The poor old fool didn’t stand a chance in hell at recovery either.

Of course that was a two way street. Alecta’s charms, whether she even realized she had them or not, had a tendency to make her the center of attention sometimes. There were times this seemed to make her seriously uncomfortable. That day in the conference room, when Hotch had made the mention that Lex was an expert about torture, and threw her in front of the bus….Morgan thought she’d kill him. Of course it would have served Hotch right on that note. She was actually quite like Hotch. She always seemed so in control of everything. She was unflappable in most aspects of her life. She kept a sense of humor about everything; for instance, when they had to peel her off of the pavement earlier in the evening, she even tried to make a joke about having her bell rung pretty well. 

Anyone could see she used her humor, and the intelligence that she had on most things to keep everyone at arms-length, or farther away. If they didn’t get too close they couldn’t possibly hurt you. Everybody could see what she was doing. If she kept the game up, she wouldn’t have to stop and see things for what they were; Hotch calling her out like that in the conference room had thrown her off balance, it let her and everybody else see that she had her weak spots. It was a low blow, but effective.

And knowing what they did about her life so far, it sounded like somebody should have locked her father in a room with Hotch’s dad and see who was left standing. Either one of them had father of the year written all over them. This was one more way that she was like Hotch. And nobody had helped Hotch out when he was a kid either; he was left to fend for him and his brother pretty much on his own. His mother had been no help at all; she would never have gone against anything their father wanted. She may have loved her children on some level, but she didn’t do much to keep Hotch’s dad from beating on them. That might be the one way in which Hotch and Lex were different. Alecta’s mother had done everything possible to try to save her child, even going so far as to be very nearly killed while doing so.

Alecta could be good for Hotch’s life and vice versa. They were in the process of giving each other a run for their money. Alecta hadn’t had anyone in her life that could see through her bullshit in years, not since Kevin. She needed someone that would call her out on some of it. And Hotch was always so….Hotch. He needed someone that could chip away at all the FBI crud that had built up over the years. And then there was the crap that Haley fed him about how much time he spent with the job instead of his family. And Beth leaving was a blow. At least they had ended on a good note. She had wanted to work things out, but she had a career opportunity that she couldn’t pass up. 

Prentiss and JJ had both gone home; JJ needed to get back to Will and Henry. Jack was staying with his Aunt Jessica.

After finishing their midnight snacks, Rachel and Eva got the girls ready to go back upstairs; they didn’t even stir when they were lifted up off of Alecta, with the exception of Sofie holding on to Alecta’s neck tighter. Rachel finally pried the little girl away from her mother and began carrying her upstairs, hearing the little girl mutter in a whisper ‘mommy’ as she was carried away.

Hotch slept in a chair at the opposite end of the sofa from Oleg. Rossi went back to bed. The Agnes’ were still holding steady sleeping in the floor. Kevin was going to sleep in a chair in the room with Rachel and the   
younger twins.

By 9am Rossi and Mrs. King were up making coffee in the kitchen; well, Rossi was making coffee, Mrs. King was making a large enough breakfast to feed a small army. 

“Do you really think we’re going to eat all of this?”

“Agent Rossi, southern women only cook two ways. The best you ever had and enough to feed the free world. Deal with it. Now, do you wanna hand me the pancake batter or stand there and grumble all morning?”

“You can call me Dave, you know? And how many are you intending to make of those?”

“Three pancakes for each person, except Alecta she’s never really cared for them…or at least she didn’t when she was a little girl. The syrup used to make her have stomach aches. And I don’t yet know you well   
enough to call you ‘Dave’, so I’ll stick with Agent Rossi for now.”

“Suit yourself.”

“Thank you. Are you expecting any visitors?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I heard a car door out front.”

“You can’t be serious…”

Rossi walked through to the front of the house, ever mindful of the bodies scattered around his living room floor, and made his way to the front door to open it before the bell rang. He saw Erin Strauss making her   
way up the path to the door.

“To what do we owe this unexpected visit?”

“There is something I need to discuss with Aaron and the rest of the team. Are they up?”

“Not just yet. We had a rough night, as I’m sure you heard.”

“I did. And that’s part of why I’m here. Please, wake them.”

Walking back through the living room, Rossi shook Aaron awake and told him to get Alecta up.

“I thought the others would surely be here.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble on that note Erin. JJ went home to be with Will and Henry. Prentiss gave Reid a ride home. It’s been a long couple of days; they needed the time in their own places.”

“What about Davis?”

“Well after the thing where one of her girls turned on her and the complex was raided, she and the girls weren’t sure how safe it was for her to go home. I have the room, so everybody stayed here.”

Alecta was finally awake, grumbling a bit about the hour of the day, and that she wasn’t a morning person.

“Oh, hell. What are you doing here? Am I fired already?”

“On the contrary, actually. I’ve been in talks with the director and a few others. And, in light of the things that have taken place over the past couple of weeks, we all seem to agree that this team could do with a little   
time off. I’ve been allowed to give you all a two week break. Go home, be with your family, whatever it is that normal people do with a two week vacation.”

“Why thank you chief Strauss. Maybe now I can get you to come home for a few days.”

Alecta’s head whipped around at the sound of Kevin’s voice. “Yeah, because hell is about to freeze over.”

Smiling, “Well that’s the main thing that I came for. I think I’m just going to go back to the office and get started on my day.”

“Chief Strauss…wouldn’t you like to stay for breakfast?...”

“Yes, do stay, she made enough to feed the neighborhood.”

“Well, if you think there will be enough to go around, sure, that would be great. Thank you.”

Alecta was rubbing her eyes sleepily and glared blearily at Hotch….

“Is she for real, or did the extraterrestrials finally make contact and leave some clone in her place? I’ve heard stories.”

Hotch couldn’t help but laugh a bit at that; but he did notice a look they got from Chief Strauss.

“Well they didn’t replace me with a clone, but they may have given me a little something for the mood swings.”

“Oh. Ok. Good to know.”

Alecta had the good sense to look a bit sheepish.

As they made their way into the kitchen, Rachel, Kevin and the girls were coming in as well. Sofie and Emma were as hard to wake up as Alecta had been; their long dark hair in just about as much disarray as hers,   
their little balled up fists that were rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, and they were toting their favorite stuffed animals; Sofie was carrying a stuffed dog, and Emma had a sizeable stuffed frog that was multi-colored. They were in little footy pajamas; Alecta had changed into an adult sized pair when she got home from the hospital. All three of them sat at the kitchen table with the same dazed, tired looks in their eyes, like they couldn’t snap out of it. The twins each sat on one of Alecta’s knees; Alecta was resting her head on Emma’s shoulder, Emma was resting her head against her mother’s. Sofie had turned around on her mother’s lap to straddle one of her hips and was resting her head on Alecta’s left shoulder, still too sleepy to deal with breakfast just yet. Alecta shut her eyes and looked like she could go straight back to sleep right in that position.

Hotch brought her plate over and shook her a bit to wake her. He’d never seen someone so tired, not even Reid. 

“Would you like to have something to eat?”

Alecta looked at Hotch, barely able to keep her eyes open, and simply nodded.

“Girls, one of you sit on my lap, and one of you sit on your sister’s lap; we need to let your momma eat.” Mrs. Rachel stated.

Without any argument, the two little girls leaned over and took the laps that had been offered. Jazzy was curled up with Kevin, she was already munching on a little bit of pancake; it seemed as if she was a chipper   
little mite first thing in the morning…she was even talking animatedly about something she was working on to send to her mommy. 

Alecta just looked at her plate, staring at it, so tired she wasn’t even sure she could function as a human being.

“Can I please go lay back down?”

“Honey, you need to eat a little something first, then you can lay back on the couch or the bed; we can get your meds together.”

She eyeballed her omelet and picked up her fork and began to eat. After only maybe 8 bites of food, she dropped her fork and took off running for the down stairs bathroom. She was so physically ill, she thought for sure she’d win Linda Blair’s role in a remake of the Exorcist. Mrs. King had been right down behind her the whole time, and was now sitting in the bathroom floor next to her daughter, holding her hair and rubbing her back while she vomited up what few bites of food she had taken. 

After a prolonged bout of the vomiting, Alecta took a wet rag that someone had handed her and wiped her mouth. 

“The baby doesn’t like eggs.” She just curled up in her mom’s embrace and rested against her; Mrs. King stroked Alecta’s forehead gently. 

“Do you want to try any pancakes?” Kevin’s father, Mr. Daniel had asked.

Alecta only shook her head emphatically, NO.

“Seriously?” ‘Ouisa, Kevin’s mom asked.

‘Ouisa continued saying that she had a little something for Alecta, and she produced a bag of homemade oatmeal cookies. 

“Agent Rossi, do you happen to have any orange juice?”

“I think I may just happen to have a little. Let me get that for you.” 

While the others congregated back in the kitchen to finish breakfast, Alecta managed to rinse her mouth out a bit, and sat down to eat the oatmeal cookies and drink the juice. She shared the cookies with her little   
girls, who as it turned out loved the combination as much as she did; not that that news shocked anyone in the room.

As Alecta sat back down to try to eat something, Yuri was being helped down stairs by Sasha and Eva. He sat down and his daughters got his breakfast together for him, with one of them getting his coffee for him.   
Oleg had gone to the restroom and gotten cleaned up and come back to the kitchen and asked Mrs. King if she needed any help making the breakfast for the stragglers.

Within about another half hour or so, breakfast was finishing up. Strauss left, making sure that everyone understood that they were on orders to take the two weeks of vacation. 

Once Chief Strauss was gone, everyone started to file into the living room; Rachel, Sasha, and Eva stayed in the kitchen to clean up after breakfast.

Alecta got settled back in her spot on the couch, blankets being wrapped around her. Yuri sat down next to her, feeling for her hand, which she gave to him.

“Kroshka, I have something to tell you.”

“Oh, there’s never been a conversation in history that started with that phrase that ever ended well. What is it?”

“While we were in the hospital, after….after so many things….Impatiev and my brother, Sergei, were called and told the news….”

“I’m glad they were; I felt bad that I hadn’t been able to yet.”

“Yes, well they are coming into town today. They will be in town within the next two hours or so.”

“Ok. Get to the part that sucks.”

Reaching out to try to find her cheek, ‘you always did like getting straight to business…I think I will go back with them, for some time.”

“Well it will be good for you to see them; after all this time, it’s the least you deserve.”

“Darling girl….I think we should divorce….”

Alecta stood up; you could see the look on her face changing. Her BAU team members had seen the look one time before…when Fletcher had told her that he never loved her…it was that same sort of hurt look.

When she didn’t say anything right away in return, ‘Don’t look at me that way. Please.”

“Why? Is it because I didn’t fight hard enough to find you? Because, if you had seen how much of that car that was….”

“No. It has nothing whatsoever to do with that.”

“I see. No big deal. We had some laughs, a few kids. It’s cool.”

Before she could walk away, Yuri stood and spoke to her in Russian, stopping her in her tracks. And as soon as he had her attention back, he spoke to her in English. 

“Look, Kroshka…it’s been 12 years, nearly 13. I know, you did everything in your power to do right by me and our children. I have no doubt in my mind about that. When we were together, you had a reputation for   
scaring people worse than I did if they got too close to the kids. And heaven forbid if someone crossed me…there was that one guy…do you know they still haven’t found him; well, not all of the pieces anyway.   
But I know that over the years, a lot has happened in my absence. You are no longer the young girl I met on the streets of Los Angeles. Your life was hard then, but you still tried very hard to be happy, you still tried to find something to smile about every day. But, since then, you’ve been married again. And I heard about what happened after the bombing….”

“That’s it. So, because I went bat shit crazy, you’re splittin’…cool. See you later…”

“No. Damn it, Kroshka…Listen to me, please!”

Alecta turned to him and looked at him, in his cloudy eyes. You could see the tears building as she remembered back to the days when he had all of his sight and his eyes were a crystal blue.

“You’ve never yelled at me.”

“Well, please. Please, listen.”

“Ok.”

“With all the things that have happened to you in the past 12 or so years, I figured only that if we got a divorce, it would give you time to think about what you want. You need time to decide if you still want to be my   
wife, or if you want to find someone else…whatever it is that is in your heart, or in your head, you’d be able to stop and think about what it is, and hear them answer you when you ask the questions of yourself. If   
you want to come back to me and be my wife, of course there is nothing on God’s earth would ever make me happier. But, if you were to decide that you need to do something different, whatever that is, I would   
also understand that. As much as we may still love each other, we, both of us, may find it difficult to ever really go back to what we had before. I want to give you time to figure it out. I don’t want you coming back to   
me only because that’s what you think is expected of you. 

You’ve almost never in your life had the opportunity to make choices in your life of your own free will. Decisions were always made for you one way or other. Your father….”

“Yuri…”

“He decided to….”

“Yuri, shut up…’ Alecta gritted through her teeth. The team could see the look on her face; it was as if she was trying to convey to him that they didn’t know the half of it and she wanted to keep it that way.

“Very well, I will not speak of it. But you understand my meanings?”

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

“So then, you understand what I mean by wanting to give you some time to figure everything out. Whether it’s mere months or however long, is no matter. But I have to do that for you. I will not force you to stay   
with me because I am a blind old man now.”

“I wouldn’t stay because of that. And you’re not that much older than me. And you were only blinded because of your association with me and our children. If not for that, you wouldn’t be in this situation. I have to   
take care of you, because not doing so would kill me.”

“You have a lot going on right now and you need to take time for yourself. When was the last time you ever took a vacation? When was the last time you went anywhere for the fun of it? You are always doing   
something for others, but never let them do anything for you; and you have never, in all the time that I have known you taken any vacations. You are always running trying to stop some crisis. Your organization is   
rather like the United Nations, except that you fight crimes against humanity instead of giving the evil dictators diplomatic immunity. And you never stop. You’ve had insomnia as long as I can remember. I have   
watched you, in the past, go for days without food or sleep while you were on the prowl for whatever suspect you were after. Sometimes I have seen you go for days without food or sleep out of panic and anxiety of   
your own. 

I have never in all of my days stopped loving you as much as I did that first day we met; you noticed that I was following you and you turned to me and asked me what exactly was I doing. I thought that was quite   
brave of you considering how many people on that street would cross the road to get away from me; I have my own reputation it seems. And nothing from that time forward has changed anything about how I feel   
about you. But, you deserve time to think and make up your own mind. That is all I want for you; just for you to take some time, and think and decide what it is that you want; what is it that you need?

I will be staying with Impatiev and Sergei in L.A. for an undetermined amount of time. When you are ready to make your decisions, you will call me and tell me what your conclusions are. I will call from time to time   
to ask after you and the children. But I will not push you in this.

I must go and pack some things. They will be here soon and they don’t have a long time to spend.”

After he went upstairs, with the aid of Oleg, Alecta turned and walked morosely up the stairs to the room she had occupied for a short time the night before. She sat in the chair near the window and just looked out   
of it, trying to think of what to do next. She was totally lost. Yuri was right, there were precious few times in her life when the decisions that were made were her own. And even when she made her own decisions,   
more often than not they were made about how she could do right by Rachel, Sofie, and Emma. She had almost never in her life made one decision that was just for her specifically; it was always about someone   
else. She didn’t know what to do without someone choosing a life for her, or having to make decisions for someone else’s life…she had never stopped for one single day of her life to think about herself, ever. Her   
life had been so depressing that she didn’t want to think about it; in years past, if she had stopped to think about anything as it pertained to her personally, she would have totally fallen apart. Thinking of others   
and doing for them is what kept her going. On those days where she was so tired she could barely drag herself another foot, or so hungry she could chew the tires off of her car, she had found ways to focus her   
strengths on other people and pick herself up.

Now she was alone, more alone than she’d ever been. Fletcher was dead, that was a miracle. And now, Yuri was leaving her, but he was doing it for a rather chivalrous reason actually. But she didn’t know what to   
do with her new freedom. 

Her mom came into the room and saw her sitting there; she went to her and stooped down in front of her, trying to talk to her, but Alecta wasn’t hearing it. She just kept staring out of the window.

Rossi came to the door and saw what was going on, ‘This is how she was when we first met; staring out of the window, not speaking….can I try talking to her?

“If you think it will do any good, yes, please.”

Rossi entered the room a bit further, Mrs. King stepped out. Before he could get all the way over to where Alecta sat she stopped him in his tracks.

“This is not the same thing old man. And, unless you have some of momma Santina’s Aglio et Olio, this….this talk, isn’t going to work.”

“You know, that on some level, he’s right though?”

“He says he wants to give me the choice on what I do from here on out. I chose to marry him in the first place. He was the first person since I met Kevin that I knew I loved at all. And with a few scant exceptions, he   
was one of the first people since Kevin that took any trouble taking care of me in return. And now, as he claims to want to give me the choice, he is in reality taking the choice away from me.

He is going back to Los Angeles with his brother and Impatiev as soon as humanly possible; he’s in such a rush. See, in the end, it didn’t matter because even HE doesn’t want me anymore. Daddy was right yet   
again. But what does it matter anyway, right? 

I begged God every single day of my life for the last…nearly 13 years….to give my family back to me. I swear on my mother’s…I would swear on a stack of bibles that I would have given everything…EVERYTHING…  
that I ever had in all my life to have them back. And now they’re back. And now he wants to take the fastest train to get away from me that he can. He can paint it the way he wants…whatever helps him sleep at   
night….but the point of the matter is he doesn’t want me anymore, and he can’t get away from here fast enough.”

“You don’t really believe that do you?”

“It doesn’t matter what I believe, not anymore. Actions speak the loudest. But let’s get real, I don’t even want me anymore; how could I expect him to?”

With that Alecta got up holding her hand to her head; all these thoughts running around in her head were bringing her headache back. She walked out the room and up the hall to the restroom and took a shower.   
Rossi couldn’t talk her out of her feelings right about now. Maybe after a day or two she’d see the sense in all of this; he could only hope. He hadn’t seen her look this forlorn since her days at the institution. After   
about 15-20 minutes, Rachel came and knocked on the door to the bathroom that Alecta had been in, to check on her mother. 

“Mom, do you need anything?”

“Yes. It seems that I have forgotten a change of clothes.”

“I’ll bring a robe for you, and then when you get back to your room you can pick out your own things.”

Only a minute or two later, Rachel tapped on the door again, Alecta opened it, and Rachel handed off a robe that she had found in among her mother’s bags. 

Within another hour, maybe, Sergei and Impatiev had shown up to the house. Yuri was already packed, ready to depart. They spent about a half an hour or so just visiting before Impatiev made it clear that they had   
to get on the road. He had some business in the area to attend to before they headed back out west.

After washing her hair and blow drying it (which is something she rarely ever did, unless she was putting off doing something she didn’t care for at all), Alecta brushed out her main and made her way down stairs.   
Her body might be relaxed and refreshed after the shower, but her mind was still a whirlwind and there was no hope of it slowing down anytime soon.

She saw Impatiev and Sergei sitting there, talking to her team, and in that moment----just for that moment-----she hated them both. They were the instruments that would be taking her Yuri away; no matter   
what he had said, or Rossi for that matter, there was nothing that would console her of that fact.

She sat with everyone for a while, her mind and heart full of anxiety, and tried to put on a happy face and act as normal as she could. Inside, she was already dying though. She could only hope that nobody noticed. 

Over the next few minutes, her girls----the Agnes’---- began to leave. She had given them the same two weeks off to go to whatever corner of the world they chose to be with their families or go on whatever   
vacations they wanted to take. She didn’t feel as though she would be needing them for a while. The traffickers were dead, Theo was neutralized….there was nothing pending that she had been made aware of. 

After another 10 minutes, Impatiev began to let everyone know that it was time for his party to take their leave. Alecta hugged him and Sergei. As she came to Yuri, she hesitated….she didn’t want him to leave. But   
she knew he would do exactly what he pleased and there was no fighting it. So she caved in and hugged him as well. Besides, the last time she had an opportunity to hug her husband was just before he had been   
blown up. She didn’t want to risk another 12 years coming between them; she had waited too damn long to get another hug from him.

As Yuri got into the care to leave, aided by his brother, Alecta stood at one of the transom windows next to the front door and watched. Tears were rolling down her face that she couldn’t have stopped if she tried.

“Davis, will you be alright?”

“Yes, Reid, I’ll be super. It’s just the last time I watched him get into a car…’, her voice was thick with the tears as they came. She couldn’t stand it anymore and walked away from the window. Reid stepped outside   
with the others for a moment. Alecta walked into the living room and sat back down on the sofa, silent tears streaming down her face.

“Well they got off safely,’ Kevin mentioned as he came back into the room and took a seat next to Alecta.

“Good for them,’ she couldn’t help but sound sarcastic, her heart just wasn’t into it now.

“Hey, since you’ve got two weeks off, and Yuri will be in Los Angeles, why don’t you come back home for a few days? It’ll be great, you’ll be able to see Ollie, and enjoy some peace and quiet.”

“I don’t think so. I haven’t been back since that trial, well since I ran away. I don’t see me coming back. Everybody there always hated my guts anyway. Why should I?”

“Now Tink, you have to come back. My birthday is coming up soon; I’m gonna be 65 this year. And we’re having a huge bash….you just have to come. I’m getting older you know. There’s no telling how many more   
years I’ve got left. You wouldn’t deprive an old man of his birthday wish would you?”

“Mr. Dan’el? I thought you were above subterfuge. That’s a low blow.”

“There is nothing I wouldn’t do to have you back home, if only for a few days. Please say you’ll come. Your friends…your team is welcome to come, too. Matter of fact, why don’t you all come, bring any spouses or   
significant others and your kids….”

“Good lord yes, we have the room. The more the merrier.” Mrs. ‘Ouisa offered.

Alecta saw the way that everyone looked at her so expectantly. 

“Fine. Alright. We can come out there, if that’s what the masses want. But I don’t intend to stay longer than a week…it is of course subject to change, depending on how things go.”

“Hot damn!” 

Kevin hopped up from his spot, grabbing Alecta by the arms and squeezing her in a friendly bear hug.

“Nobody ever hated you there. You’ll see, things have changed so much since those days. It’ll be great.”

For the first time since they all met him, the team saw Kevin literally on cloud nine. He was talking about different plans of things he wanted to do while he had her back home….even his momma and daddy hadn’t   
seen him this animated in years.

Alecta pried herself away from him to go into the kitchen for a drink, ‘I just hope you don’t make me regret this.”

The team got busy making plans to go to their own places and pack, and what time they needed to meet back at Rossi’s to leave. Alecta and Garcia both began to wish they could crawl under rocks and die; they   
could only remember what happened the last time they were together in that town. Hopefully, they thought, everything would go smoothly and there would be no major catastrophes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know. I pick the most bizarre places to end my chapters sometimes. This is the last chapter of this story. But there is a follow up story to this one. it is huge. 51 chapters, over 200,000 words and I AM NOT finished with it yet (!).....I promise you it is a strange story....it doesn't start that way, but it does eventually pick up a life of it's own and I don't know where I got the ideas that managed come from my brain. Hopefully it will be pretty cool though. 
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me through this one though.


End file.
